Punishment
by A Liar called Jago
Summary: What kind of 'just punishment' awaits Loki in Asgard? Odin makes a decision but Thor can't live with it.
1. Chapter 1

The first thing he saw was a dim blue light and a grey wall only a few feet away from him.

Where was he? What had happened?

His head ached and he felt like all his power had been taken from him.

Drained, empty and weak, even breathing was exhausting.

Slowly he sat up and let his eyes wander around the room he had regained consciousness in.

The walls were made out of concrete and so were the floor and the ceiling. But one wall seemed to be missing. He got up but had to wait a few minutes until his shaky legs allowed him to walk. Carefully, he made his way to the non-existent wall and reached out one hand. Glass! It was a glass wall and that meant this was some sort of cage, for he had not seen any kind of door. There was a passage way leading by his cell. By pressing his forehead against the glass, he was able to identify other cells like his own, only much smaller. But none of them contained living things. A suspicion arose in him.

The weapons vault in Asgard!

But…who put him in here instead of an ordinary prison cell and why?

Suddenly, everything came back to him and he remembered the huge battle on Midgard and finally the Avengers capturing him. Thor had taken him home so that he could face his just punishment. However, he could not recall arriving on Asgard let alone being brought down here.

All of a sudden, he heard heavy footsteps and seconds later the guards of the weapons vault were patrolling through the passage way.

„Hey!", he wanted to shout but his condition was so weakened, there was barely a sound coming out of his mouth. He banged his fist against the wall, but there was no force to that blow so it proved ineffective as well. The guards payed no attention to him at all, they simply marched on, eager to finish their patrol.

Hours went by and nothing happened, except for Loki feeling even more miserable. He had tried to use magic to escape these walls but it seemed like his power was gone, or, if it was still somewhere inside of him, he wasn't able to tap it. Feeling dizzy, he decided to sit down in one of the corners of the cell. This way he could keep an eye on the glass wall in case someone would show up.

Time went by, no one came and so Loki fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

„_Father, be lenient! He has to be punished but not like this!"_

Thor? Loki woke up and quickly scanned his cell. He could have sworn that he had heard his brothers' voice. But he was still alone in this cold and empty room. The voice must have been in his dream then. He couldn't recall the dream though. Everything had been blurry and diffuse.

"Loki!" This time he was sure that the voice was real, although now it belonged to Odin. The Allfather appeared in front of the glass wall and with him were his wife, Thor and two guards.

Loki struggled to his feet and stumbled to the transparent wall."Father…" he whispered, but as before, no one heard his words.

"I, Odin, will no longer address you as my son. You have revealed your true nature and shown that you are not fit to be a prince of Asgard. From this day on, you will be nothing more than just another stolen relic to me. You will be locked up here until I might have use of you. Your magic has been taken. You will be able to use it again when I am in need of your services. But until this day comes, you will be kept in this cell."

"No, no, no…" Loki muttered. His knees failed to keep him upright and he sank to the floor. "Please, don't do this to me…"he whispered in despair.

His mother and Thor stayed silent but looked at him with both determination and disappointment. They had accepted Odin's verdict and it seemed they even approved of it.

This was the cruelest thing that could have happened to him. Since the day Odin had told him about his true origin, he had always felt like he was just one of the many relics the Allfather had stolen and stored here in the weapons vault. To become officially one of them was too much to bear.

This was a nightmare!

The people who had once claimed to love him had now decided that he was no longer fit to be in their midst and with his magic gone an attempt to escape was out of the question.

Without any other explanation his former family turned and walked away. Long after they had left the vault, Loki was still sitting on the cold floor, trying to understand what just had happened.

He felt now even more exhausted. Somehow his eyelids seemed to weigh a ton and so he decided to lie down for a moment. Just for a short while. He was asleep in an instant.

* * *

„Father, be lenient! He has to be punished but not like this!" Thor was pleading.

Odin was sitting on his throne, looking down on his true heir and shaking his head slowly but firmly. "My decision is final. Loki has to be given a taste of his own medicine. Maybe he'll learn that using magic in order to play around with other peoples' minds and fears is altogether wrong and twisted. I only wish for him to redeem himself."

"But this is not the right way!" Thor cries out. "Can't you see? He will only be angry and vengeful after your treatment. You will turn him into an even bigger monster. Stop it, father! I beg you! There are other ways!"

"Enough already! It is the only way. You need to accept it."

Thor swallowed his anger and left the throne room in a hurry. If he stayed any longer, he would do something unwise. He was sure of it. He knew that Loki had done horrible things. Thor had seen most of it with his own eyes and fought in the battle in order to protect Midgard from the mischievous plan his brother had come up with.

But this….this punishment was too much. It wasn't a punishment it was torture.

Thor went straight back to Lokis chamber. He had to check on him again, he had to make sure that Odin's magician did not cross a line.

"How is he?" Thor growled as he entered the room.

"Oh, he's okay. I just sent him the second dream, as the Allfather had told me to do." The magician was a boney and repelling little man. He sat cross-legged in front of Loki, who had been chained to his own bed.

"No, no, no,…" Loki muttered. "Please, don't do this to me…"

Loki was pale and drenched in sweat. Thor did not know what kind of dreams the magician had to place in his brothers head, but he saw, that they had to be horrible.

This was madness! He had to bring an end to it!


	3. Chapter 3

Maybe it was too late, maybe the dreams that Odin's magician had forced into Lokis head, had already done too much damage. But nevertheless, Thor had to try it. His brother was like a snake. You could torture him but it was unwise. Like a snake he would endure the most excruciating pain, only to wait for the perfect opportunity to strike back. So that was the reason why this kind of punishment was altogether wrong. Loki would not see reason, feel regret or even develop empathy, no. The only feelings left inside him will be anger and an overwhelming desire to destroy everyone who had had something to do with his punishment. Loki will be vengeful beyond belief. Why doesn't Odin see, that his youngest son couldn't be handled like any other criminal. He was far more complex. Thor knew that he would not be able to stop Loki from seeking revenge, but he should at least try to diminish the wrath that would come down on Odin.

"Say, what kind of tricks do you use?" Thor addressed the magician, a plan forming in his mind.

"Oh, mighty Thor, I am afraid, I cannot tell you that. I reveal my methods to no one." The little man answered with a crooked grin.

"I see. It is just… you know I was wondering how anyone could stop my brother from using magic. After all he is the most skilled sorcerer I know. You must be very powerful." The bony man started to beam with pride and how Thor had hoped, he began to boast about his success of blocking Lokis power.

"You see this iron chain? It is no ordinary chain. I did cast a spell on it. If a person with magical abilities is held captive with it, he will get lost inside his own body. It's quite like being in a maze without any exits. Loki knows that his magic is still there, he can feel it and his subconscious is constantly looking for it. You know the unpleasant state when you see something in the corner of your eye, but then you turn and it vanishes into thin air? His subconscious gets that feeling without cease. It is unbelievably tiring for your brother. I would have considered this punishment enough. You see, if a magician is kept for too long in this form of mental imprisonment, he will lose his sanity. But the Allfather insisted that I had to send Loki these particular dreams as well. As a kind of bonus or something."

Thor grinded his teeth, his anger multiplied. He had to defy his father. There was no way around that. Waiting here and observing his brother slowly and painfully losing his mind was something he couldn't bear. Although there was a voice inside of his head, that told him to reconsider his plan. Because the first time he had defied Odin, HE had been in fault and not his father. Odin had taught him an important lesson. So what if the Allfather was doing the same now with Loki? What if his interference would make it only worse?

What was he supposed to do?

Suddenly his mother walked into the room. She seemed troubled but she tried to keep her countenance. "Mother", he greeted her with a swift smile.

"Thor", she smiled as well, but in her eyes was a desperate entreaty Thor could not ignore.

"Mother, are you not well?"

"Everything is alright, my son. I just came here to see how Loki is doing."

"As you can see, he is in a lot of pain", Thor growled.

"I know. That's why I'm here."

"What?"

"We should retire to your room Thor. I need to talk to you." His mother said while she gently brushed a strand of hair out of Lokis face. "He's so pale…", she whispered barely audible. "Magician?"

"Yes, my Queen?" The magician took a bow.

"Which dream did you send him?"

"The second one, my Queen. I am about to start with the third in a few minutes." He answered dutifully.

"Good, Odin will be pleased with your work."

"Thank you my Queen. I am honored to serve you." The little man said with a sly grin on his face.

Thor wrinkled his nose in disgust. This magician's soul had to be as repulsive as his from was hideous.

The god of thunder followed his mother reluctantly into the corridor that led to his own room. He hated to leave Loki alone with his torturer. They entered Thor's chamber and as soon as Thor had closed the door behind him, his mother started to speak.

"I am worried, Thor. I should not go behind Odins back, but he has gone too far this time. From the day your father had told Loki that he is in fact from Jotunheim…from this day on, he was blaming himself day and night. Every evil thing that Loki does is plaguing Odin. He is unable to cope with it. He wants Loki back, the old Loki. But he has no idea how. You know him, Thor. He can be very stubborn and he's determined that the magicians' method is the only way to reach his goal. But I am not going to watch them destroy each other."

"What can I do to help, mother?" Thor was relieved. To know that his mother had the same opinion was reassuring.

"Take Loki far away from here. Hide him somewhere. Just keep him safe." She begged him with tears in her eyes. "He is my son. I raised him and I still love him, even though he has done horrible things."

Thor nodded and hugged her. Then he said: "I know. I do not wish for him to suffer, either. There has to be another way. I will do as you said. But Odin will be furious when he discovers that I freed Loki."

"Indeed. But maybe your actions will make him see reason."

"Let's hope so." Thor took a deep breath and added: "I intend to leave with Loki tonight."

"The sooner the better. Take care of Loki. If Odin changes his mind, I will find a way to inform you. I promise. Farewell, Thor!" And with those words spoken, his mother left the chamber and Thor was forced to prepare the hasty escape for tonight.


	4. Chapter 4

Somehow he could hear his mother's voice.

"He's so pale…"

But then he opened his eyes and there he was, alone again in this horrible empty room. He began to feel numb, the anger and the confusion had subsided. So this was now how he would spend the rest of his life? Like a stored object, vegetating and weak. Waiting for the day, Odin would need him or forget all about him. Loki was lying on the floor and concentrated on breathing steady.

What had Odin done to him? Why was it nearly impossible for him to speak, let alone to move? And why the hell couldn't he access his power? He knew it was still there, but every time he tried to grab it, he felt nothing but emptiness. Odin was clever. He had taken everything from Loki that could have helped him to find a way out of the weapons vault. Now he was only an empty shell, deserted and condemned to wait.

How much time had passed, since he had been brought down here? Had it been days or weeks? The guards must have walked past his cell a hundred times now. But as they did patrol at night as well, there was really no way of finding out whether the sun was shining outside, or the stars were bathing Asgard in their silvery light. Suddenly there was an uneasy feeling flowing through his entire body and made him feel sick.

Would he slowly go insane? As the years would go by, would he lose his mind? Maybe he will start seeing things and babbling nonsense? Or he would just lay here, on the cold floor, like he did now and feeling numb and empty for all eternity? How long could he survive this way? So far, not even food or water had been brought to him. Lokis trail of thought got interrupted by a voice as loud as thunder.

"You are quite the freak!" A huge hand clasped his throat and he got lifted high up. "You were lucky that Odin had decided to take you to Asgard when he had found you in my castle. You would not have lasted long in Jotunheim. You were so small…look at you, you still are! I despise you! How could something like you descend from me?"

"Laufey…" Loki croaked. What…? How…? Laufey was dead. How could he be here? And how had he managed to get into this cage without making any noise? Was this it? Was his mind now starting to crumble? "You are a disgrace to the frost giants. You don't deserve to life", Laufey roared and threw him against the solid glass wall. Loki lost consciousness immediately.

Loki woke up moaning. Every bone in his body was aching, but luckily he was alone again. Laufey had disappeared.

It took a lot of effort and time but he finally managed to sit up. The passage way was only dimly lit and so Loki was able to see his reflection in the glass in front of him. But what he saw was not changing the current state of his mind for the better. The creature that stared back at him didn't look at all how he remembered his appearance. It had red piercing eyes and its face was ice-blue. Loki touched tentatively his own face and was shocked as the reflection did the exact same thing. "This is me…"he whispered. "I am a frost giant…No,no,…I am not." He frowned, unable to take his eyes off the figure in front of him. A single tear rolled down his cheek as he declared: "I am a monstrosity!"


	5. Chapter 5

Food, water and two blankets made of fur. It was spring and so it got warmer day by day. But they would probably have to hide out in a few cold and damp caves. So he made sure to pack warm clothes for both of them as well. He wrapped everything up in one blanket and used a rope to be able to carry the whole thing comfortably on his back. That had been the easy part. Now how the hell could he get rid of the magician? Thor was pacing up and down in his room, trying to think of a way to distract the little man. Maybe he should just knock him unconscious. That'll do. After all he couldn't risk that this man would alarm Odin too soon. He had to buy them as much time as he could. And suddenly it hit him. What about Heimdall? If Odin asked him of their whereabouts, would he reveal it? Most certainly, since he was always dutiful and true to his king. Well, Thor could nothing do about that. They just had to be constantly on the move and stay watchful.

The sun had set and Thor was ready. Now or never, he thought and walked straight to Lokis chamber. As he entered it, the magician greeted him with an impish grin on his face. "Good night, Thor Odinson. I see you're prepared to go into the woods tonight. Will you go hunting?"

"Will I go…what?" Thor was confused for a split second. Then he remembered that he carried a pack on his back, which must look similar to the ones an Asgardian needed, when he went hunting. "Oh, you mean…ehm, yes. I am planning to go for a hunt tonight. Fandral bets that I won't be able to hunt down a wild boar at night. He thinks me blind the minute the sun sets. I will proof him wrong of course." Thor said and hoped that he had been convincing enough.

"Of course you will", answered the magician with a slight bow.

"Tell me, how is my brother?" Thor demanded to know.

"Hmm, his body is fine, I guess, but when it comes to his mental state, I just don't know. I have sent him the fifth dream a few minutes ago. It's a short one, so it must be over any time now."

"How many dreams have you left for him?"

"Oh, with all the dreams Odin ordered me to send Loki, I will be up all night." He grinned and shifted a bit in his tailor seat.

Thor went to Lokis bedside and found himself gasping for air at sight of his brother. Loki was now even paler than before, he was sunken-cheeked and not only were the clothes drenched in sweat but also were the bed sheet and the pillow. His brothers' face was contorted with pain and he seemed to move his lips non-stop. Thor leaned forward to see if he would be able to figure out what Loki was whispering. He was shocked when he heard him say „I am a monstrosity…I am a monstrosity…I am a monstrosity…I am a monstrosity" on and on. This enraged Thor even more. What was Odin thinking? Had he been thinking at all, when he had made that decision? What kind of dreams was this cursed magician putting in his brothers' head that led him to speak such words? Without any hesitation, Thor clenched his fist, stepped up to the little man, who was still sitting on the floor, and knocked him unconscious with a single blow to the head. The magician went limp in an instant. Well, so much for the easy part, getting out of the palace would be much harder.

As Thor lifted Loki up to carry him on his shoulders, his brother had stopped repeating those cruel words, only to start whimpering as if he was in pain. Was the chain hurting him?

"I am sorry, Loki. But we have to be quick now. I will remove this chain as soon as we find shelter."

What was happening? Was there an earthquake? His whole cell began to tremble and even the glass wall started to form cracks. Loki crawled to a corner of the room, desperate to get as far away from the crackling glass as possible. The whole cell seemed to roar. It was so loud, that Loki had to cover his ears. It felt like a giant had taken this cage in one hand and was shaking it now as hard as he could.

Loki was filled with fear. What if the whole room would collapse and bury him under tons of stone? All that shaking made him feel sick again.


	6. Chapter 6

The sun was about to rise and ban the cold air of the night.

Thor couldn't wait to feel the first beam of sunlight touch his skin.

He had stayed awake the whole night to watch for any sign of Odin or his men. But so far, no one had come near the cave in the mountains where he was hiding his brother. But what troubled him, was the state Loki was in. Although Thor had removed the magic chain as soon as they had reached the cave, Loki had not made an attempt to wake up yet.

Thor started to doubt his actions. Maybe his plan had not been a good one after all. Maybe the magician had lied, and the chain was not the only thing that kept Loki in this state.

He took a fresh cloth and wiped Lokis forehead clean of sweat again. Loki was lying on one of the blankets and the other was covering him, but it didn't seem to spend him any warmth. He had began to shiver the minute Thor had removed the chain. Suddenly his brother started to moan and then his eyes snapped open.

* * *

He looked around confused then he cleared his throat and said: "Where…where am I? What happened? Had the weapons vault been under attack?"

Loki realized that he was able to speak now and somehow he felt different too.

Still weak but he didn't feel unable to move and the best part; he could feel his power coursing through his veins again.

"Loki, how do you feel?" he could read in Thors face, that he was very worried, but why?

He had been there when Odin had imprisoned him in the weapons vault and he had not seen any sympathy back then. So why now?

"Why? What does this concern you, brother?" He spat the last word out as if it was poisonous.

"Loki, I have to tell you something now and I want you to listen closely. After we came back from Midgard, Odin did punish you for your actions. But this punishment was wrong. Mother and I had decided that it was for the best, to get you as far away from the palace as possible."

"Why? Because he had me imprisoned in the weapons vault?"

"No. You have not been imprisoned there. All this time you had been in your chamber in your own bed. Odin had given orders to a magician. He had to block your powers and keep you in a sleep like state, while he was feeding you dreams." Thor explained and waited for the outburst of fury that would surely come. But it didn't.

"Oh, that makes sense." Loki said barely audible. "So how did I get up here?"

"I carried you on my shoulders." Thor answered.

"I see…that's why the vault started to crumble", Loki mumbled lost in thoughts.

Thor frowned. Why wasn't his brother shouting at him, or cursing Odin? Why was he so contained?

"What's the plan now?" The younger asked him calmly.

"We will stay here, until you feel better and then we have to find another cave to hide."

"Hide? Until when exactly?"Loki sat up and looked at him.

"I guess until Odins anger at us will subside. Mother has told me, that she sends us word, if anything changes at home."

"Great", Loki snorted and stood up. His legs felt wobbly at first and he seemed to topple over. Thor wanted to help him but Loki hissed: "NO, leave me alone."

And so Thor stayed behind and watched Loki walk out of the cave and into the bright sunlight of the new day.


	7. Chapter 7

Everything was so confusing.

Loki had a hard time to accept that all the things he went through in the vault, turned out to be only dreams. Dreams forced into his head by another magician just like him.

No! Not like him, no one was like him!

He was a freak, an abomination, unnatural. The things Odin did had always a purpose. So what had it been this time? To show him that he was an outcast?

Neither did he belong to Asgard nor to Jotunheim. But he could have told him that face to face. Why…why do it like that?

Loki felt angry, sad, detached, insecure, furious, afraid and vengeful at the same time. All those emotions were so intense that his body got overstrained and suddenly he felt unbelievably sick.

Loki stood still immediately and dropped to his knees. The world around him started to spin and he tried to keep his breath steady but it didn't work. He fought against the nausea but could not withstand for long.

* * *

Thor was not sure whether he should go after his brother or not. Maybe he needed some time alone to process what had been revealed to him. So Thor decided to wait until Loki came back on his own. He occupied himself by packing the things together. They had to move further up the mountains. It all depended on their advance.

Suddenly he heard something that startled him and as fast as he could, he run out of the cave to locate the source of the sound. His apprehension came true.

Loki was kneeling on the floor and throwing up.

Thor was taken aback and unsure what to do next. He hadn't seen his brother throwing up for years now. It had happened occasionally when they had been children, yes. Seeing him in such a state now seemed somehow unreal. Thor sat next to him on the floor with his back up against a trunk of a tree and waited in silence.

When it was finally over, Loki felt incredibly exhausted. But at least all the emotions were gone now. There was only numbness left. He had noticed Thors appearance and was glad, that his brother had stayed silent and in doing so, had spared him further humiliation. Without a comment, Thor handed him a cloth to wipe his mouth clean.

"Can you walk?" He asked with concern. Loki nodded though he wasn't entirely sure if he could even get up.

"Good. There is another cave I know off, where we can hide at nightfall. It will take us half a day to get there. Are you sure you're strong enough, yet?"

"Yes", Loki snapped at him.

Thor raised his hands in defense and said: "Okay. Then let's go. But first, here…drink something."

Loki wanted to snatch the water bag from his brothers' hands only to throw it at him. However, he was too tired for that and as he began to think about the water, he realized how parched he was. He simply took the bag and started to drink. But after a few gulps he began to feel a bit queasy again, so he stopped and handed the bag over to Thor.

The god of thunder sighed. His brother was clearly very sick but he would never admit it. They both got up and started to walk up the small trail leading further into the wilderness of Asgard.

Loki wasn't steady on his feet and he had been breathless soon after they had started. He was dragging himself up the hill and looked so pale that Thor feared he would pass out any time now.

But it seemed like Lokis stubbornness helped him to muster every shred of strength he had left in his body. They moved agonizingly slow and so it took them the whole day to arrive at the second cave. Thor built a fire because it already had gotten dark and cold. He handed one of the blankets over to Loki, who took it without saying a word and wrapped it around his slender figure. The fire started to crackle and filled the cave with a warm golden gleam. They ate a bit of bread and dried meat and watched the fire.

Thor broke the silence first as he asked: "Loki, how do you feel?"

"Tired." Was his monosyllabic answer, he didn't even look at Thor.

"I understand and what other than that?"

"Why? What is it that you wanna hear, Thor?" The younger hissed.

"Well..you have been tortured by very unpleasant dreams and a magic chain. I've seen you suffer. And what you don't know is, that every magician tied up with this chain for too long, would sooner or later lose his mind. So, yes, I am worried about you. I couldn't live with myself, if I'd rescued you too late. I want to know how you feel, because I care about you, because you are my brother. You always have and will be my brother. I don't care what others say."

Loki frowned and felt a sudden lump in his throat.

How could this affection be real?

After all he had done.

All the chaos and death he had brought to Midgard.

How could his 'brother' still care about him?

Loki was still skeptical but he felt like he owned Thor an honest answer.

"Ehm…I am very worn out. But other than that…I guess I'm fine." He shrugged.

"Good. Then let's go to sleep now. You need to gather strength for we have to journey on tomorrow."

Loki nodded. This was nothing to argue about. He needed sleep very badly.


	8. Chapter 8

_**First of all, I want to thank you guys for reading my story. Thanks for all the nice reviews as well. Your opinions are important to me. So here is my new chapter! Enjoy! **_

* * *

In a nest on a strong branch of a tree, were six young birds.

They had seen the beauty of a sunrise only a couple of times now. If they had known that today had been the last time, they would have probably paid more attention.

But ignorance was bliss, wasn't it?

Hunger let them cheep for their parents in vein. Both adult birds were lying on the ground underneath the tree that had been their home shortly before. Their broken necks made sure that they would never have to worry about finding food for their babies again. Suddenly one of the little birds started floating out of the nest and towards the floor.

But a few inches before it reached the grass, it stopped. The tiny thing was petrified with horror and could not comprehend what was going on. Some sort of invisible power hold the bird steady in the air, while it slowly started to rip out the little fragile wings, the skinny claws and finally snapped it's neck. Then the mutilated bird dropped to the ground right next to its dead parents.

One down, five to go.

The power took another bird out of the nest, but this time, it ripped the beak out, before it broke every delicate bone one by one and finally tore the creature in half.

The pieces landed on the heap of the already dead family members with a wet thud.

Two down, four to go.

* * *

Thor woke up and the first thing he noticed was that his brothers had left the cave. There was no sign of him. He jumped to his feet. Had Odin recaptured him? Or had Loki left him by choice? And then he heard it.

Something was wrong. It seemed like all the birds were upset about something. They were making a lot of noise and Thor could not think of a reason why they would behave like that. So he stepped out of the cave and immediately saw what caused the turmoil. Loki!

His brother was sitting in the grass underneath a large tree and it seemed like he was meditating or something. A little creature, a bird, Thor assumed, was floating in the air in front of him. As Thor got closer he could see that several of them were already dead and lying in the grass.

"What are you doing?" Thor couldn't believe what he witnessed. Loki opened his eyes, shrugged and said: "Oh, I was thinking about this and that."

"Is that so? You were killing birds while you were thinking."

"I did, didn't I. Hmm…how ghastly of me."

Loki said tauntingly and grinned.

"Loki, you are…" Thor began, but he stopped. He couldn't think of a word that would have expressed the disgust he felt.

"A monster? A freak? An abomination?" Loki shouted. "Say it! Say it out loud if you dare. I can see it in your eyes anyway!"

"No! Stop it, Loki! You are not a monster. Don't you…"

"Look at me!"

Loki interrupted him and yelling even louder than before, "Look at me and tell me what you see!"

Suddenly the younger gods skin started to change its color into a cold ice-blue and red eyes were staring at Thor now.

"Is this something you would call 'normal'? I am not a frost giant and I am certainly not one of the Asgardians. So what could I possibly be if not a monstrosity?"

Loki stood there, panting and his eyes were filled with tears. Thor hesitated a second too long and so his brother screamed at him: "Tell me!"

Thor took a deep breath and said calmly: "I cannot give you an answer. I don't know what you are. Maybe we'll never know. But there is one thing that I know. Even though we might not have the same parents or the same blood, we are still brothers. We grew up together. Don't you remember all the things we did back then? I said it before and I'll say it again: You always have and will be my brother. I don't care what others say. I don't even care if you believe me or not. This is the truth."

"You make me sick", Loki spat. You're a self-righteous fool. I despise you."

Now Thor began to lose his patience. "Fine. If you hate me that much…go on. I won't hold you back or follow you. You're on your own now. If Odin finds you, I won't be there to help."

"I don't need your help!"

"Good then. Farewell Loki."

Thor said with clenched teeth and he stormed off into the cave to gather his belongings. When he returned, Loki was nowhere to be seen.


	9. Chapter 9

"Thor! Thor! Ah, here you are. We were looking for you! But we did not expect to find you so close to the palace. Are you returning?"

Fandral asked him, as he came uphill to greet him.

Hogun, Volstagg and Lady Sif appeared now as well.

"Yes, I am returning. I will face Odins wrath come what may."

"Oh, you don't have to. We were looking for you because we have word from your mother, the Queen. She was able to convince the Allfather that his decision had been wrong. You and Loki can come back now. Your brother won't be tortured but he has to spend several months in prison with his magic blocked, but in a less harmful way."

"This is great news!" Thor was relieved.

At least his mother had been successful. "But Loki is not with me anymore. We separated in the mountains. I don't know where he is at the moment."

"Ah, don't worry. Heimdall will locate him and then we recapture him in no time." Hogun said.

Thor nodded, he was confident that everything would turn out just fine. He and his warriors were in high spirits and headed for the entrance of the palace.

* * *

Not even a moment of recovery was granted to Loki. Just now he had stood in front of the cave and then in the blink of an eye he found himself standing on black rocks, breathing in ice-cold air, which seemed to shatter his lungs. It was very dark but the sky was filled with millions of stars and so Loki could just see enough to recognize the creature in front of him.

"You!" He gasped and tried hard to hide his shock.

"Good, you haven't forgotten me, yet. So you know that I could deliver you to HIM in an instant. You failed to hold your side of the contract. He gave you an army and in return… you managed to lose both the army and the Tesseract."

"I know that, you don't have to tell me the whole story again." Loki snapped. He acted like he was unimpressed, but the truth was, he was scared to the core.

"I want to make sure, that you understand the gravity of your situation. From now on you do exactly as I say, or I'll bring you to HIM myself! Is that clear?"

Loki looked at him in disgust, every fiber in his body wanted to crush his opponent but he had no choice. "Yes."

"Good. So here's what you will do. You will bring me the head of the one they call Iron Man. My people, the Chitauri, seek revenge for the ones who had died without a fair fight because of this device he had brought with him and destroyed millions of us."

"Why don't you do it?"Loki grumbled.

"Oh, it's simple. You see, we would stand out too much. But you on the other hand would not attract any attention. And of course, there is the fact that the Chitauri want you dead as well. So we get satisfaction in any case. You win, Iron Man is dead. You lose, we hand you over to HIM."

"Tell me, why should I help you, when you are going to hand me over anyways?" Loki hissed.

"You know….your new mission buys you time. And there is a lot that could happen. You could even stumble upon the Tesseract again and maybe, just maybe, you will be able to deliver it as you promised."

"So you want me to steal the Tesseract again?"

"Yes, of course. HE gives you a second chance! So I think it's in your best interest to succeed this time. And I know for a fact that little worms like you, Loki, squirm as long as they can."

The Other laughed but it sounded more like coughing.

Then he stopped abruptly and spoke again: "I'm aware of your ability to use paths between the worlds that no one else knows about. So you don't rely on Asgard and its powers. I command you to leave for Midgard now! And remember, I will always find you and if I don't, HE certainly will."


	10. Chapter 10

"First I was furious and disappointed in you for running away with Loki but I had been blinded by rage. Your mother brought me back to my senses. I see now that this particular punishment had been wrong. I get the feeling that you will be a much wiser king than I ever was, my son. So I heard that Loki was not with you, when you returned to us. What happened?"

"Thank you, father, for these kind words and for your forgiveness. Loki and I had an argument and I told him to journey on alone, if he hated me as much as he claimed. And so we separated."

"I see. What was the argument about? Why did he say that he hated you?"

"It has something to do with the dreams you sent him, I suppose.

Loki is confused.

He does not know what or who he is and to whom he belongs.

His skin changed its color into ice-blue and his eyes were red.

Showing me this, he asked me to tell him, what I thought he was.

But I had no answer.

So he got angry even though I told him, that it didn't matter to me what he was.

He would always be my brother. But he got even madder at me. He thinks of himself as an abomination, a monstrosity and I wasn't able to convince him otherwise."

"Oh, Thor, I am truly sorry. I realize now that I have done much more damage than I had feared. You are right. The dreams are to blame for his confusion and his mental pain." "Is there something I can do, father?"

"We'll see. But first of all we have to find him again. Go to Heimdall and tell him to look for Loki."

Thor almost ran all the way to the gatekeeper. They had to be quick. Who knew what Loki would do in his current state? The fate of the little birds crossed his mind again and now Thor was truly running.

"Thor, I am glad to find you well. But why are you running?"

"Oh, mighty Heimdall, I need your help", Thor said trying not to stumble upon the words. He was in a hurry and wanted to have said everything already. There was a strange feeling starting to rise inside of him. Loki was up to something, he was sure of it.

"You have to locate my brother Loki. We need to find him as fast as we can."

"Alright", Heimdall nodded and then he started gazing into the infinity of the universe. Into every world, around every corner, into every abyss, no matter how deep and Thor waited. He stood right next to him and tried to scrape together all the patience he could find.

After a few minutes, Heimdall turned to him and said: "It was odd. I needed more time than usual to locate Loki. Somehow he was invisible to me but then he appeared again."

"Where is he then?"

"He is in Midgard."

"What? Again? And you are not mistaken?"

Heimdall raised one eyebrow in bewilderment: "I am never mistaken."

"Of course, I am sorry. It is just so…I don't know…What does he want in Midgard? The Tesseract is locked up here, in Asgard and it is far from save for him to be on that world. The people there know him and if S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers hear that he is there, they'll hunt him down."

"Should I send you to Midgard?" Heimdall asked. But Thor negated it. He had to talk to Odin first.

"Go immediately", were his words after his son had explained everything. "Whatever Loki is up to, it can't be good and I fear that I am to blame for his actions. Be careful, Thor."


	11. Chapter 11

It was a nice Saturday afternoon and Tony was about to enter the room where he kept his Iron Man suits and his latest inventions.

"Nononono!

How many times have I told you, Miss Chang: No cleaning in this room!

How did you get in here anyway?" But when the women turned to face him, Tony was surprised.

This was not Miss Chang.

No way!

The woman in front of him was much younger and far too beautiful to be his cleaning lady. She had long black hair and an excellent shaped body. Her movements were almost feline like and so for a split second Tony thought she might be dancing rather than cleaning.

"Pardon me…who are you?"

But before the cleaner could answer, Pepper, who appeared behind him, chimed in: "This is Miss Changs niece, Tony. I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you.

Miss Chang is sick and so Lana is doing her work for a few days now."

"Okay…but what is she doing in my room?" Tony demanded to know.

"It is very dirty in here." Lana said while clutching here feather duster.

"Yes, I know. But see, you and I may not have the same definition of dirt. You could throw something away that seems useless to you but is actually very important to me. You understand? And now go, shoo, shoo!"

"TONY! Don't treat her like livestock!" Pepper reprehended him and said to Lana: "I am sorry, Lana. Just ignore him and this room here. You can continue upstairs. Thank you."

Lana nodded and did what she was told. Then Pepper frowned and shook her head. "Tony, you have no manners at all."

"Hey, I have manners!"

"Oh, yeah? Sometimes you hide them pretty well then, I guess. And don't think that I didn't notice you staring at Lana."

Tony grinned while he tried to act the innocent. "Did I?"

Pepper rolled her eyes and sighed. "Anyway, I'll have to get some stuff from various shops, which is also known as 'shopping' and since I know how deeply in love you are with that, I'll go alone. But I am going to be back for dinner, is that okay?"

Tony smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "You're the best!"

"Thanks. You are not so bad as well." Pepper smiled back and a few minutes later, she left the Stark-Tower and strolled down the street, still wearing a smile on her face.

* * *

Tony got a little bit nervous. Why wasn't Pepper back, yet? She had told him, that she would be back for dinner, hadn't she? So where was she? It was eight o'clock and they usually met up at seven to enjoy a meal together. Right this moment, the door swung open and Pepper came in without any shopping bags.

"Hey! You're late. What happened? And it seems like you haven't found anything at all."

"I'm sorry. I totally forgot the time. And you're right. It was awful; I found not one thing I had been looking for." Pepper sighed and sat down at the table Tony had been sitting and waiting.

"Apology accepted." He smiled. "After all, you are punished enough, because you've found nothing. Let's eat."

They had a nice meal and afterwards, they sat on the couch and were sipping some wine.

"You know what, Pepper", Tony said, "You don't have to worry about me, starring at Lana."

"Okay. Why is that so?"

"Because she is starring at ME all the time. It is pretty creepy, actually. Sometimes I had the feeling she was following me from one room to the other. She always seemed to have something to clean that was near me. She's stalking me."

Pepper smiled. "You wish she would."

"No, I mean it. She's odd." Tony's tone was serious and Pepper stopped smiling.

"Okay. If you think so, I'll watch her. Maybe I'll catch her starring at you and then we will ask her what her intentions are."

Tony was satisfied with this answer for now and he moved closer to Pepper, with the attention to kiss her, but before he could place his lips on hers, she jumped up and said: "Oh, I forgot my wallet. Tony I'm sorry, I have to go back to this one store, I left my wallet there at the cash point. Damn! I hope no one stole it."

"What? I thought you did not buy anything." Tony was confused.

"Well yes, technically I didn't. But…I mean…you know…och…why do you have to ask. You know I am not a good liar. It has something to do with a surprise for you. So, no further questions, please."

"Alright." Tony laughed. "Go on then. I love surprises."

"Oh, you're gonna love this one. I'll be back soon."

* * *

Loki was lying on a couch in a hotel room in New York. He seemed to be exhausted and was massaging his temples with two fingers. He talked to a woman, who was lying handcuffed and gagged on a bed in the bedroom.

"You know, I am still not on the top of my game, all that stuff about being tortured with dreams was really exhausting.

And running around in the mountains with my brother has not really helped my recovery.

But I must say to disguise myself as you that was genius.

Although very straining. I barely made it out of this damn Tower.

Well, as soon as I have recovered a bit, I'll go back and wait for the perfect moment to kill him. Sooner or later there will be no one around but me and him and since I look like you, he won't suspect anything.

Ahhh…how I've missed my magic!

Those dreams had been…very disturbing and so real.

If it wasn't for Thor, I'd be mad by now, a drooling mess.

Well to be a slave to the Chitauri is nothing to brag about either."

Although the woman was not able to say anything, you could see that she had only hatred left for him.

"Alright, I gotta go again. Hopefully I finish Tony off tonight."

The woman started squealing and immediately Loki covered his ears with his hands.

"My head hurts, so could you please SHUT UP?"

He screamed the last two words and the woman stopped at once.

"I will bash your head in, if you don't keep quiet, you stupid whore!"

Loki spat and fought the urge to kill her on the spot.

Unfortunately he needed her alive to appear in her shape.

It was probably best to leave the hotel room and go back to the Stark-Tower for his last act, he thought.


	12. Chapter 12

„Welcome back", said Tony already in a shirt and boxer shorts, ready to go to bed. "Have you found your purse then?"

"My purse?" Pepper frowned but seconds later she remembered: "Oh, my purse, of course. Yes, I was lucky."

"Perfect!

You know what's weird?

This Lana girl is still cleaning.

I guess she went outside for an hour or so, and now she's back again.

I mean I am not prim, but I don't produce that much dirt either.

She certainly doesn't have to clean day AND night."

"Maybe she doesn't want to come in tomorrow, so she does a few things in advance."

"It's Sunday tomorrow, she doesn't have to come in at all."

"Well then, ask her." Pepper shrugged.

"Yes, if she's still here tomorrow I'll ask her but not now. I have something much better in mind."

Tony grinned like a Cheshire cat and Pepper started to giggle.

"Oh, you do?"

"Would the lady care to join me in the bedroom?"

He took her by the hand and escorted her to their bed.

Both were so distracted, that they didn't notice Lana following them.

She didn't enter the room, though. She waited just outside and drew some kind of weapon out of her pocket. It looked like a little black box.

* * *

Tony kissed Pepper in the most passionate way.

He was lying on the bed, only in his boxer shorts, while Pepper sat on top of him, still wearing her clothes.

He loved that woman, he really did.

Pepper shared his feelings, he knew that.

But the way she was kissing him now was…different.

It lacked skill and passion.

How could anyone lose one's unique and wonderful way to kiss?

Pepper seemed to notice his confusion and said: "Ah, I was curious how long I would be able to fool you."

Out of nowhere, a knife appeared in her hand and she started to slit his throat.

However, she could not finish her work.

Lana appeared suddenly behind them and Tony saw how she held a little black box to Peppers neck. Seconds later, a body much bigger and heavier than Peppers, was now lying unconscious on top of him.

Tony pressed one hand to the wound on his throat and Lana helped him to crawl out from under that strangers body.

Suddenly Tony realized that this person in front of him was in fact no stranger at all.

"Loki!"

Tony gagged.

"I think I'm gonna be sick!

What the hell…!

Where is Pepper?

What is going on?"

"Sir, you need to calm down, "said Lana while she handcuffed Loki.

"Calm down?

I was half naked in bed with Loki!

I can't calm down!

Where is Pepper!

And who the hell are you, anyway?"

"I'm an agent with S.H.I.E.L.D. We heard that Loki was on earth again and I got assigned to stick around at your place in case Loki shows up here. He did."

"Hilarious! But where is Pepper?"

"That I don't know", Lana answered and then called someone on her mobile phone.

Meanwhile Tony stared at the limp body lying motionless on his bed in front of him.

Good thing gods can be harmed by a taser, he thought.

This sick bastard had tried to kill him while looking like his beloved Pepper.

And...Loki had kissed him!

Tony felt sick again.

"Sir, Nick Fury and some of his men are coming to pick up the Asgardian.

You may wanna get dressed and patch up your wound."

Lana said dryly, but made no attempt to leave the room.

She had orders to stay with Loki and had to see to it that that he did not regain consciousness too soon.

One twitch and she would use the taser again, without hesitation.

"Right, I'm on it", Tony mumbled and started to put on some fresh clothes.


	13. Chapter 13

Someone hit him in the face, first on the right cheek, then on the left.

He felt his skin burn and with some effort he opened his eyes to see who was hitting him.

"Agent Romanoff, what a surprise!"

He said when his vision wasn't blurry any longer.

Behind her stood Nick Fury, Captain America, Tony Stark and…his beloved brother Thor.

Almost the whole gang again. Hurrah!

"Why are you here again, Loki?" asked Thor while he got a little closer to the chair Loki was tied to.

"Why are you following me like a little child?" Loki imitated his brothers' worried look and then started to grin.

Tony couldn't remain silent any longer.

"What have you done to Pepper? Spit it out fast, or I'll crush you!"

"Oh, that lovely redheaded whore of yours? Hmmm…let's see…where did I put her? Sorry, can't remember."

"That's it. I'm gonna get my armor and beat the crap out of him!"

Tony growled and was about to leave the room, as he heard Loki say: "Go on. Do it. I'll wait here. You can beat me up as long as you want to. But in the meantime, your little slut will die of thirst."

Tony turned on his heels, walked back and hit Loki in the face as hard as he could.

There was a loud cracking and suddenly blood was gushing out of Lokis nose.

The minute he saw the red liquid dripping onto his pants, he started to laugh.

"You really think you can hurt me that way? Has Thor not told you, that I had been punished for my crimes by the Allfather. Don't you think that your methods are puny compared to his? After all, you are just a little human."

"Oh yeah?" Tony bristled with anger.

He took Lokis right hand in his hands, then stopped for a while and stared the god straight in the eye.

"What now? Are you gonna hold my hand until I cry for mercy?" Loki mocked him.

"No, now shut the hell up and enjoy!" Tony growled and started to snap Lokis fingers, one at a time.

The god wasn't able to draw his hand back, because his wrists were tied to the chair he sat on. However, Loki wouldn't give Tony the satisfaction of hearing him cry out in pain. So he clenched his teeth and threw his head back. He couldn't avoid a moan, his vision blurred again and his headache got even more intense than it had been before.

"Stop it", he heard someone say.

"That's enough, Tony."

Thor.

It was his brother again, who saved him from further pain.

Why did he do that all the time?

He acted like a mother hen, always trying to save him, to protect him. It was pathetic.

Tony had managed to break four fingers of Lokis right hand, before Thor had stepped in.

Now Tony asked again: "Where is Pepper?"

Loki started to giggle, but it sounded weak, like he had to press it out of himself with a lot of effort. Then he lifted his head up from the back of the chair and looked at Tony with a grin. The blood from his nose had leaked into the mouth and so his teeth were now red. His temples were visibly throbbing and there were dark circles around his eyes. All that combined with his mischievous grin was too much to bear for everyone in the room.

They were not sure whether to be disgusted, shocked, afraid or have pity on him.

All Tony wanted, is to beat that bastard until he was a bloody mess. But Thor was right, it was enough. It would not bring him Pepper back. There had to be another way.

"Okay then, I think we are wasting our time here. Let's go find Miss Potts." Nick Fury opened the door of the interrogation room. "Come on, guys. She has to be near the Stark-Tower. Agent Lana has assured me, that Loki was not gone for too long, when he had left the tower once. So let's start with that."

Loki began to laugh again, in the most wicked and insane way.

"Yes, do start with that! But do it fast." He screamed.

They could hear his laughter even through the thick walls of the interrogation room and all of them started to get a bad feeling. Would they find Pepper in time? What had Loki done to her? Or was he just playing with their minds?


	14. Chapter 14

Perfect, just perfect!

He had failed again.

Now he was locked up in this room with broken fingers, with the worst headache in his entire life and he felt like his magic was depleted.

He had to wait until his body would heal itself, which would probably take forever, since he had no noteworthy powers at the moment.

All he wanted though was to get the hell out of here, as far away from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers as possible.

He needed to lay down somewhere.

He needed to be alone, to be able to think, in order to prepare his next move.

But all these things were out of reach at the moment.

He knew that some agent was constantly watching him on a monitor and the fact that his wrists were pinned down on the metal armrests of the chair in an uncomfortable angle, made his back hurt like hell. Nevertheless he had to try and get his magic back on track. It was the only way out of this mess.

* * *

"You think this will work?" Fury said to Thor, while they were sitting in a room, next to the one Loki was held captive in.

They were watching him on a monitor.

Thor and Fury had not joined the search party for Pepper, because they wanted to have some kind of backup plan. If the others failed, they would still have a second chance. If Thor was right…

"I am not entirely sure. But he is a frost giant…well a part of him is, I think. And that means that he cannot sustain heat for too long."

"So, there is a chance that he might tell us, where he hides Miss Potts?" Fury asked.

"As I said, I have never tried something like this. I cannot guarantee you that it will work."

"Alright, we just have to wait and observe, don't we?"

Thor nodded and stared again on the monitor, where he could see his brother sitting in the middle of the room, his head resting on the back of the chair.

The god of thunder did not feel good about this, but he saw no other way, either. He was sad and angry at the same time.

Why did his brother always do such unnecessary things?

And what had went through his mind, when he had tried to kill Tony?

What is it that forces him to dark doings time and time again?

If Thor could only find out what it was, he would eliminate the cause immediately.

He wanted Loki to find peace and to live with his family in Asgard again. Without any troubles and hatred, a fresh start for everyone.

He missed the good old times, he missed the old Loki. Fighting and laughing alongside, proud to be brothers and never ever letting down each other.

Why couldn't it be like that again?

"The temperature inside the interrogation room is now 120°F."

Fury's voice brought Thor back to reality and he looked on the monitor again.

Loki was sweating and he obviously had difficulties of breathing. They could hear him through microphones which were hidden in the room.

* * *

What was happening? He could not have a fever, could he?

Loki felt dizzy and breathing was almost impossible. The air felt like a solid material, hot and dry. He was sweating like hell and some sweat was running down on his forehead and trickled into his eyes, left them burning.

His skin started to shift its color to the ice-blue of the frost giants. Immediately he felt relieved, his body temperature sank and his head stopped pounding.

But this state didn't last for long. It seemed like his body had not enough strength to maintain it but tried desperately to protect itself from the heat.

So at irregular intervals Lokis body switched the blue skin on and off. He wasn't able to control it and it did not help him at all to cope with the heat around him. The pain that filled him was comparable to a multiplied toothache, when you eat something hot and shortly after something cold. It electrified his whole body and all he could do was scream. And so he screamed and begged for it to stop.

"Please! Stop it! Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh! What's happening? If someone can hear meeeeee, make it stooooooop!"

* * *

Loki screamed until he almost lost his voice. But then, the door opened and Thor entered the room.

"Loki, tell us where Pepper is. Where are you hiding her?"

"Help me, help me, brother, please!"

Loki was whining in the most heartrending way.

But Thor kept a stern face, although he wanted nothing more than to hug his brother until his pain had subsided.

Instead he demanded: "First you need to tell me where we can find Pepper and then I will help you!"

"A hotel room, she's in a hotel room…two blocks from the Stark Tower. Now pleeeeeaase stop the pain!"

Thor looked up to the camera in one corner of the room and the temperature started dropping.

Fury stormed into the room and said: "Stay here and keep an eye on him. I'll go and notify the others. We'll find her in no time now."

Thor could not tear his gaze away from Loki, so he only nodded in return. He felt miserable for what he had done to his brother. No one deserved to be in such pain.

Lokis skin was still switching colors but the intervals were slowing down. He was groaning and muttering words that Thor could barely hear.

"Stop it, stop it…please, please make it stop….aaahhhh…"

Thor knew that what he was about to do, was not without risk, but he simply had to do it.

He freed Lokis wrists from the handcuffs and carried him out of the interrogation room into the one where he had sat with Fury a minute ago. There stood a black leather sofa in one corner and Thor put Lokis tortured body down on it, then he sat on the sofa himself, placing his brothers head on his lap. He brushed a strand of wet black hair out of Lokis face.

"Shhh, calm down Loki. It's over, it's all over."

Thors efforts turned out to be a success. His little brother stopped moaning and muttering and his skin had been normal for a while now. Suddenly a young agent stumbled into the room. He was nervous and insecure but tried to appear resolute: "Sir? What are you doing? You can't just free him. We have to enchain him again. We have orders."

"Then I will give you new orders now. Bring me water, a cloth, bandages and valerian root."

The agent began to stutter something, but Thor had to shoot him only one stern look and he was off to gather the things that the god demanded.

"Am I going to die?"

Lokis voice was weak and hoarse from all the screaming.

"No, you will live. It may take some time for you to recover, but I am quite sure that you won't die. Gods don't die, remember?"

Thors gentle voice made Loki hurt even more, but this time the pain was not physical.

"Loki? Are you crying?", asked Thor with concern.

There was no response but the tears that trickled down his cheeks and the shivers that went through his body were answer enough.

That was rather awkward.

What was he supposed to do now?

He could not remember the last time he had seen his brother cry.

Suddenly Loki sat up and turned his back on Thor, trying to hide his emotions.

"Go away", he managed to say, "Leave me alone."

"I'm sorry. I won't. Not this time."

"Why don't you hate me? It would be easier if you'd just hate me."

Loki sobbed.

But before Thor could respond, the young agent stepped into the room again.

This time he brought a bottle of water, a cloth and bandages. He cleared his throat before he spoke: "I'm sorry, Sir, but we don't have valerian roots. I brought some pills though. They will have the same effect."

"Good. Now go and close the door behind you." Thor told him.

"Yes,Sir!"

As soon as they were alone again, Thor said: "Show me your right hand."

Without looking at him and reluctantly, Loki stretched his arm out to the side.

The god of thunder started to bandage the whole hand to splint the broken fingers as much as possible.

When he had finished his work, he took the cloth and with a bit of water from the bottle, the agent had brought him, he dampened it.

"Now turn your head. Let me see your face."

Loki did not react and so Thor grabbed his chin and forced his brother to look at him.

His eyes were red and swollen from the crying.

The broken nose looked terrible and blood was smeared all over his mouth, chin and throat.

He felt humiliated as Thor began to clean his face with the wet cloth and was glad, that no one of the Avengers could see this.

"Enough! Stop it. I'm not a child anymore!" Loki growled and tried to push his brother back. But he was still weak and so it made not much of an impact.

Thor took a deep breath to calm down and said: "For once, just let me help you, alright."

"If it makes you happy", he snapped.

"Shut up and hold still."

Loki sat through it and from minute to minute, a strange long forgotten feeling came to visit him.

He felt calm, almost at peace.

He wished he could feel that way all the time.

He missed it.

Back in the days with his brother, there were no fights, no problems and no hate.

Just the two of them enjoying life in Asgard, without a care in the world.

"I miss it." He whispered and his eyes were filled with tears again.

Thor stopped cleaning, surprised by Lokis sudden change of mood.

"What exactly do you miss?"

"Being your brother." Loki turned his head away, so he wouldn't have to look into Thors eyes.

"But you are and always will be my brother. Nothing changed. Why can't you see it?"

"Why can't YOU see it? Your parents are not my parents. Your world is not my world. I am nothing like you. In fact, I don't even know what I am. I don't belong to you and your people anymore."

"Who says that? Who has the right to say that we are not brothers anymore? We grew up together. Think of all the time we shared and the stupid things we did. We may not have the same blood, but we have a bond and no one can take that away from us."

"I want it back. I want you back. I want to feel at peace again. Why can't I have that?"

Loki started sobbing again and this time, Thor did not hesitate.

He took him into his arms to give him comfort and whispered into his ear: "Why do you think you can't have that again?"

But Loki remained silent.

He had buried his head into his brothers' strong shoulder and was now overwhelmed by all the sadness that had built up inside of him for so long.


	15. Chapter 15

Loki was alone again.

Thor had brought him back into the interrogation room, but he had assured Fury that there was no need for chaining him up again.

"Take some of these pills brother, they will help you to sleep and give your body a chance to heal properly."

With these words Thor handed him the bottle of water and a little plastic box with the drug in it.

As the door closed, Loki stood in the middle of the room, staring at the shut door, lost, forlorn and leached out.

Slowly he opened his left hand and let the bottle and the pillbox fall down to the floor.

They rolled around for a bit and then stood still.

There it was again, the complete silence, the isolation, the concrete walls around him, much like the time in the weapons vault in Asgard.

Deja-vú.

Had it really been a dream back then?

Was he still dreaming?

He concentrated on the chair in the centre of the room and with the power of his magic he flung it at the wall behind, where it shattered into pieces.

He had now proof that he was in fact no longer in Odins dreamland, because this wouldn't have worked otherwise.

That test had been necessary but had also brought him the damn headache back.

It felt like someone had thrown several stones at him, and they had all landed on his forehead.

Loki massaged his temples with the heel of his left hand and sat down on the floor with his back up against the wall, trying to relax, although it seemed impossible.

Millions of shattered thoughts were running through his mind, blurry and frightening.

Focus, he said to himself, focus on the task at hand.

Your goal is to kill Tony Stark, then get the Tesseract and deliver both the head and the device to the Chitauri.

If you manage to succeed in all that, you will finally have peace again.

Then you can start a new life, in freedom without anyone bossing you around.

But you will lose Thor!

Said a voice deep inside of him and the freshly built up tower of his plan started to crumble again.

If he acted under the orders of the Chitauri, he would most likely been hunted by all the remaining Avengers including his brother.

But there was always the hope that they would never find him, unlike the Chitauri, who had the ability to sniff him out wherever he would chose to hide.

Right on cue, as if the Chitauri had waited until Lokis train of thought had arrived in the desired station, the Other entered his mind.

The interrogation room disappeared and Loki found himself standing on the black rocky ground of the planet where the Chitauri lived.

"You failed again, little worm! Are you going to squirm or are you just waiting for something to happen?" the Other said with a mocking grin.

"I have to wait until my power is restored again. I need the full force of my magic. Without it, I have no chance against the Avengers. You have seen their strength! It is not an easy task to get close to Stark."

"Wait?...Wait? You do not depend on magic, magic depends on you! You don't have to wait for it to come back. Summon it, it has to obey you! You are its master! You are Loki, the trickster, the magician, the sly one! Remember, you are a god! So act as one! And for your sake, don't fail again, or I will chew your soul and spit it back into your body, before I deliver you to my master."

Loki opened his eyes and was almost glad to be back in the interrogation room. Now it was clear to him, which path he would follow.

To create chaos, to tell lies and inflict pain, that was his true nature. And you should never deny your nature.

He had been confused, but not anymore.

He knew now what he was, what he had always been.

He was half Asgardian, half frost giant and that particular combination made him unique. The Other was right, he did not have to wait for his magic to return. All he had to do was to summon it.

For he was the god of mischief and there was no one like him! No one!

* * *

"It is good to see you, Pepper. Are you well?" Thor asked.

The Captain, Banner, Romanoff, Hawkeye, and he had been waiting in the room, where he and Loki had sat on the sofa minutes ago.

Now Tony, Pepper and Fury entered the chamber. The Avengers had found her in no time, after Loki had confessed that he was holding her in a hotel room.

"Yes, I am fine now. Thanks to you. All of you."

Pepper smiled and snuggled against Tony, who was undeniably happy to have her back safe and sound.

"What's Loki up to anyway?" asked Hawkeye. "Why is he here again and why did he try to kill Tony?"

"Did he say something to you, Thor?" Fury looked at the god questioningly.

"No, he did not. I know that he is very confused. Odin's punishment had been brutal. He had decided to torture Lokis mind, instead of his body. But that was a grave mistake; it filled my brother even more with hatred and rage. If he was unpredictable before, he is now close to madness."

"Jeez, Odin seems to be suicidal. He kind of stirred up a hornets' nest." Banner shock his head in disbelief. "And we have to deal with the end result now. Thanks a lot."

"Well, he mentioned to be a slave to the Chitauri." Pepper said with a frown.

"The Chitauri? Didn't we destroy them somehow?" Tony gave everyone a confused look.

Hawkeye laughed: "Maybe he has lost his marbles now for sure and still lives in the past."

Thor was worried. His brother was a slave to the Chitauri? That didn't suit him. His gaze fell upon the monitor and he was alarmed immediately. Loki was not in the interrogation room! Where did he go?

Thor stormed out of the chamber and headed for the now seemingly empty room.

He could hear Tonys voice behind him: "Hey, where are you going?"

The god of thunder opened the door in such a hurry that it almost broke in two.

"Loki? Where are you, brother? Show yourself!"

No answer. But then he heard a chuckle and a second later, he felt a sharp blade, cold as ice, being pushed deep inside his stomach. "Loki, no", Thor moaned and fell to his knees.


	16. Chapter 16

Back again.

The familiar smell and the cold air down here brought memories back that were almost too much to handle for him.

He heard the distant steps of the guards and had to fight the urge to crouch down and hide himself in a corner of the long corridor.

There's no need to hide, he said to himself, they can't see you!

That was indeed true.

As the guards passed him, Loki had all the time in the world to strike.

The only thing they felt in advance was a gentle cold breeze, but before they could wonder where it came from, they were already dead and lying on the floor, bleeding out of their backs.

Loki watched the red liquid dropping from the two sharp blades made of ice.

He held one in each hand and felt unbelievably powerful.

Creating blades of ice was something new.

The knowledge of it had popped up inside of his mind, while standing in the interrogation room.

His theory was, now that he no longer feared or detested his frost giant genes and has accepted that part of him entirely he was able to tab his full potential.

He started to enjoy it, maybe a bit too much.

It was hard for him to take his eyes off those blades.

The ruby pearls on them where glistening in the dim light.

They had once belonged to proud warriors, coursing through their veins, enabling their bodies to walk and to fight, but nevermore.

He, Loki, had taken that privilege from them, with his own hands.

He had almost forgotten how it felt to have real power.

Oh, how awful and how sweet it was!

Now, where was the Tesseract?

It took him not too long to seek the place out where the device was locked up.

Here it was, right in front of him.

Only a thick glass wall was obstructing his passage.

Loki grinned. That was not posing a challenge. Not anymore.

With a swift movement of his hand, he made the wall slide to one side and stepped into the little room.

Then he heard it, heavy footsteps and the clanging of metal.

He had expected him and was therefore prepared.

Loki turned around to face the Destroyer and with the help of magic, he paralyzed him. But just to be on the safe side, he also covered the whole armor with a thick layer of ice. That should hold him for a while, Loki thought.

He took the container which held the Tesseract from the podium and got out of the cell again. Behind him, the glass wall slid back again, showing not one scratch that would have proofed that someone had entered the cell without permission.

Finally he had it. Nothing could go wrong now.

The portal he created was like a crack in reality, a dark hole in the middle of the corridor. It would bring him straight to the planet of the Chitauri. Loki was about to step through the portal as he heard someone calling his name.

"Loki Don't…"

He turned his head and saw Odin standing on the steps that lead down to the corridor of the weapons vault.

"I know it's you. Please don't' do this. I am no longer enraged. I wish for you to forgive me. Let us put all hatred aside and be a family anew. Return to us, Loki!"

How did the old man know that it was him? He was invisible and so was the Tesseract in his hands. The only things to be seen were the dead guards on the floor, the frozen Destroyer and the recently opened portal.

However, he had to go now. To reclaim his freedom was much more important than a sentimental outburst of this old fool. It was a lie anyway.

Loki took a deep breath and stepped through the portal.

* * *

"Thor? What's going on? Are you bleeding?" Rogers helped him to stand up again.

"I am fine." He said but in reality he felt miserable.

It was not the wound, though, for it would heal very quickly. The reason for him to be so miserable was that Loki had turned on him again. He had been so sure that his brother would see reason that he would let go of his evil plans and tricks and would return to Asgard with him.

Oh, but it had been completely foolish of him to believe that Loki had changed!

And then again, why would he confess that he missed being his brother that he missed to live a life in peace?

The whole thing made no sense at all. Had it been yet another lie to weaken his defense, so that he could catch him off guard and stab him?

"Damn it! Where did he go?" Nick Fury was looking up and down the corridor but Loki was nowhere to be seen.

"You won't find him", Thor said, "He managed to get his power back and there is more to him now…I am not quite sure what it is, yet. But he seemed even stronger."

"Yay! How good for him!" Tony cheered sarcastically.

"The question remains: What is he up to?" said Banner with a frown.

"I guess we still have no clue, same as ten minutes ago", was Hawkeyes answer to that.

They all stood in the corridor right in front of the now empty interrogation room and looked at each other questioningly. There was really nothing they could do but wait for Lokis next attack. And being a sitting duck was something every one of them hated to be.

Rogers cleared his throat: "So…we wait?"

"Seems to be the only possibility," was Furys response, "but everyone should be very, and I mean, very careful. He is one sly son of a bitch, and as we know now, he can shape shift. If someone has a question on that matter, feel free to ask Tony."

"Oh, thank you! Keep rubbing salt into my wound." Tony rolled his eyes and smiled annoyed.

"Haha…yes I heard you kissed him. How was that?" Rogers teased him and laughed.

"If you do not shut up immediately, I will get my armor", Tony growled at him.

"Alright, alright, take it easy, pal." Rogers was still grinning but tried hard to contain it. Hawkeye, Romanoff and Banner had the same difficulties with staying serious, though. He made sure to avoid eye contact with them because he knew that even one quick glance at their smirks and he would have a laughing fit that couldn't be stopped so easily. The whole affair was somehow just too amusing.

* * *

"My master will be pleased with your work. You have finally done something right."

"So we're even now. I brought him the Tesseract and now I will no longer serve him."

"Oh, little worm, of course. My master will give you your freedom back, but… I won't. I can't see Iron Mans head in your hands. I fear I have to rip your soul out of your body for a little game. Maybe you will be more ambitious after you've suffered agonies."

The Other said and grabbed Lokis throat with one hand.

"No…wait", Loki gasped desperately. "I..I tried, but he is too strong for me. But you…you could kill him. You are much more powerful than he can ever be. Please, let me help you. I will bring you to Midgard, I will conceal you, give you another shape and then you can slay him with your own hands. Imagine how your people will worship you! You will be the one, who killed Midgards mightiest warrior."

The Other released his grip on Lokis throat and considered the tricksters plan for a while.

"Hm…you're right. I should have done it by myself all along. After all, it should have been cristal clear to me, that you would never succeed. Hundreds of my people had been slain by the Iron Man. It was foolish of me to think that you could kill him. You're nothing but a worm."

Loki had to swallow his anger and maintain his poker face, which was much harder than usual. His whole plan dangled on a string. The Other knew what kind of tricks and schemes he used to play on people. Lokis only hope was, that his craving for power would blind him for the time being.

"I will do it. Take me to Midgard. But if you dare to double-cross me, there will be eternal pain awaiting you."

Loki nodded obedient.

"Good then. Disguise us well and take me with you to Midgard. Now!"


	17. Chapter 17

„Guys! Seriously, I appreciate your concern, but you don't have to hang around in my apartment day and night. Who says he is gonna attack again? And who says that I am his target anyway. Maybe he wants us all dead and his little rampage just happened to start with me."

Tony was unnerved. For two days now, they had been stuck together like glue.

The Avengers had orders from Fury that they should never let each other out of sight. For example, if someone wanted to go out to by food, he had to take another from the team with him.

Luckily, excluded was the matter with the toilet and the shower. But anyway, it was too much.

"He will come, and you are his target."

Everyone looked at Thor with a frown.

"How do you know that?" Pepper spoke out what all the others were thinking as well.

"It is clear to me now. You told us that Loki had mentioned to be a slave of the Chitauri. I think that they want to see Tony dead, because he killed so many of their people with this bomb. They seek vengeance."

"So Loki is a mere foot soldier in this?" Rogers asked.

"It seems so, yes, though it is not common for my brother to carry out someone's orders."

Thor mused and turned around to let his eyes wander across the city roofs.

The view from the Stark Tower was breathtaking but the god of thunder was with his thoughts elsewhere.

Something had happened on Asgard, he felt it deep inside of him but it was not wise to return now. He was needed here.

Suddenly they heard someone knocking on the door.

"Did any of you order pizza?" Tony asked with a grin, but it was obvious that he was tense and on the alert.

"It's just me. Open up." They recognized Nick Fury's voice and immediately relaxed.

"Alright", Rogers sighed, got up and let the agent step inside.

"Has something happened yet?", was the first question Fury addressed to the Avengers. They all shook their heads in unison.

"Well I guess, we give him four days tops. If nothing happens until then, you're free to go wherever you wanna go." Fury poured himself a drink from those expensive whisky bottles Tony was always hoarding.

"Four days? I will have lost my mind until then", Tony moaned. "Hey, what are those two guys doing in here? Are these yours?"

Fury nodded. "Yeah, they're with me."

Two young men in black uniforms had stepped into the room and saluted.

"Sir! There is someone outside the door. He says his name is Loki and he needs to speak to you."

"WHAT? That's a joke right?" Fury frowned.

"No sir."

"Well, tell him to come inside. If he wants to speak to me, he might as well do it in here."

Fury regarded the whole situation with suspicion. Why would Loki _wait_ outside and _ask_ to speak to him? That just sounded wrong.

Everyone was staring at the door, as the young agent left the room to get Loki.

No one paid attention to the second agent. This man was now sneaking up on Tony from behind and stabbed him in the back with a silver dagger that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere in his hand.

"And now I shall behead you so that I can show my people the face of the mightiest warrior on Midgard, who is no more." The Other shouted triumphant as his disguise faded and everyone was able to see the true form of the gruesome assassin.

* * *

Agent number one, who was supposed to get Loki, was none other than the god of mischief himself. As soon as he had closed the door behind him, he had changed into his own shape and then made himself invisible.

Now he stepped into the apartment again and saw that Tony was already lying on the ground, bleeding from his back.

Pepper was kneeling beside him, putting pressure on his wound with a cloth, while Thor and the Avengers were fighting with the Other in one corner of the apartment.

Glass shattered and countless furniture got broken but the Other stood no chance.

Since Loki wouldn't lift a finger to help him. He simply stood there, watching and enjoying. It was a feast for the eyes! His oppressor ripped to shreds by the hands of his enemies. What a glorious day! He was finally free again. Loki smiled and witnessed how two paramedics rushed into the apartment to attend to Starks wound.

Fury and Pepper were informing them about Tonys arc reactor in his chest, while the Avengers simply stood there, helpless and worried.

Fury made some calls in order to make sure that the body of the dead Chitauri ended up where he wanted it to be. And in the middle of this chaos and turmoil, Loki watched in silence and still smiled.

But then it happened. For a brief moment, he was too relaxed and he felt his invisibility fall from him like a cloak. It was a mere flicker, lasted only seconds but Thor saw it in the corner of his eyes.

Suddenly his hammer connected with Lokis chest and knocked him down. He became visible altogether and everyone was staring at him immediately.

Clutching his chest and gasping for air, Loki was lying on the floor and saw his brother coming up to him.

"This is your doing!" Thor growled, grabbed Loki by the shoulders and shook him.

"I had to. I was forced to bring him here."

"You speak lies again. Just like you always do! You are not helpless; you could have refused to do it. You know how to defend yourself."

"That's exactly what I did. I refused to kill Stark, that's why the leader of the Chitauri forced me to bring him down here, so he could do it by himself. You have to believe me. I didn't do it out of spite." Loki explained with a pleading look.

"Believe you…"Thor snorted, "How could I? First you say that you miss the old times, the peace… and then you stab me? Tell me, how will I know what's the truth? Your tongue produces nothing but lies."

"No, it was the truth, what I said back there about missing you and Asgard. It is true!"

Thor was not convinced.

"Then why…"he began, but got interrupted by Loki, who was now raising his voice.

"You know nothing! Nothing! The Chitauri have methods of torture…you…you would never…never…I…" Loki began to stutter and lowered his head.

"They are able to track me down, no matter where I hide. They…they…"

Suddenly Lokis head snapped back up again and he looked his brother straight in the eye.

He seemed to be filled with horror as he whispered: "They found me. Don't…don't let them take me. Please brother!"

And then in the blink of an eye, Loki was gone.

Thor was staring at his empty hands. They were no longer holding his brothers shoulders.

Thor turned around and saw that the other Avengers were equally bewildered.

Banner was the first who broke the silence: "Well, that was…creepy."


	18. Chapter 18

How foolish of him to expect he would be free after the Other's death. Perfectly foolish! There is always someone to claim the throne when the leader perishes. He of all people should have known that. It was almost comic! He would have laughed if his situation hadn't been so grave.

The Other gave his second in command, who was now the new leader, the order to punish Loki, if something happened to him.

And as a matter of fact, the Other didn't even make it back. Therefore Loki was now lying naked on some kind of table made of cold black stone. Five leather straps were holding him down. One on his forehead, to hold his head down and the others were tied around his wrists and ankles.

"It's good that you are a god. You know why?" The leader grinned. "Because that means you can't die and that again means we can torture you as long as we want. Until we grow tired of you, until we think that you've suffered enough for your betrayal and your lies. But that moment, little worm, is far away. Maybe even I will be dead until we release you. Who knows? But enough words, let's begin."

He said something that Loki couldn't understand to the one on the other side of the table. That guy was probably the torture master, since there were several scary looking instruments in front of him. Loki closed his eyes; he didn't want to see what the torture would choose.

The sharp blade of a knife bit into his skin, slowly cutting deeper, separated the flesh, creating a long deep gash that began in the middle of his chest and ended above his navel.

Sticky blood was gushing out of the wound and colored his body and the table dark red.

The torturer laid the knife aside and reached into Lokis chest with his bare hands.

Until now, the god of mischief had been silent, he'd been biting his lips to avoid screaming but he couldn't restrain himself any longer.

He cried out in pain in a way he'd never done before.

But as the hands of the torturer clasped around his lungs and ripped them out of his body, his voice ceased to exist.

Despite his brute stature, the Chitauri was very swift with the needle and so he sewed up the gash he'd created in no time.

"Isn't this fun?" The leader laughed. "You are asphyxiating until your body restores your lungs. I'm really curious how long it takes for a god to recreate vital organs."

Lokis eyes were wide open, so was his mouth. Every fiber of his body was gasping for air in vain.

All his muscles were twitching and his mind started to shut down but got stuck in the middle somewhere.

He didn't die. Therefore he could see and hear what was happening around him. Since his brain was dead and alive at the same time, he was not able to concentrate on his magic force to free himself from the straps or even kill one of the Chitauri.

Loki could feel the empty space in his chest, where his lungs supposed to be. Slowly but surely the tissue began to reconstruct itself.

All the damage inflicted by the knife healed as well, step by step.

All of a sudden Loki gasped desperately for air and coughed as his lungs started to work again.

* * *

"Thirty minutes! I'm impressed. That was almost too fast. I hoped you'd have to suffer a little bit longer. Well, let's try something else. We are going to test those newborn lungs of yours."

"Please, stop it! I'll do anything! ANYTHING!" Loki pleaded. He couldn't possibly take anymore of this.

"Oh, shut up, worm! This is pathetic and it won't get you out of here."

Why was his magic not working? Loki thought.

To snap the straps open was not something he would call a challenge but why wasn't it happening yet?

Loki frowned and pulled at the straps.

His frustration was obvious and so the leader smiled and said: "Oh, yes, about that…we certainly know that you are a master of magic and we are not stupid. This table is enchanted. You can't perform magic while lying on top of it. So stop trying, it will only tire you out."

Loki felt like a trapped animal. Trapped in the claws of an eagle, which was ready to prick his eyes out.

There was nothing he could do now to free himself. He had to wait for a miracle.

Would anyone look for him?

Would anyone even worry about him?

Thor had helped him get away from torture once, but would he do it again?

After all Loki had said and done since then? Not likely.

That realization took him a few steps further down the path to panic.

His magic blocked, Thor out of the picture, pleading didn't work and he had nothing he could offer nor had he any kind of ace up his sleeve.

So he really had to do it?

To suffer through all the things that the Chitauri would do to him?

No, please, that could not be the solution!

There had to be a way!

There had to be!

Lost in his own thoughts, Loki did not pay any attention to the torturer.

And so he was caught by surprise as the cold blade of a small knife bit into his right thigh.

The wound was not deep though so the young god just winced a bit.

But the torturer had only just begun.

He buried one thumb in the wound and started to pull.

Slowly and steady he peeled off a shred of skin from Lokis thigh.

The Chitauri leader watched with glee, how every single inch of removed skin, made the god scream even louder.

The torturer skinned both legs and arms as slowly and painfully as he could and then he started on the torso.

It took hours and Loki had already lost his voice. He was still screaming though, but there was nothing to hear.

"Your lungs have done an incredible job. After all, they are so new and unused. It's a shame that your vocal cords have given up. As you may have guessed, I wanna know how fast your body can give you your skin back. Isn't this fun? I've never had such an interesting plaything."

Loki didn't hear what the leader said to him, he wasn't capable of thinking anymore. This torment was beyond all bearing. Finally, he lost his consciousness. It was like falling into a warm black cloud, where no one could touch him, where no pain could reach him.


	19. Chapter 19

Rogers was pacing up and down the corridor. Banner, Fury, Barton and Romanoff had gone back to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters to get some sleep.

Fury said that they would also try to find out if Loki was still on earth somewhere but so far, no report on that. Pepper and Thor were inside of the room where Tony was lying in a bed, attached to several beeping machines.

Rogers had been standing next to Tonys hospital bed as well, but then he had started to get on the other's nerves.

He couldn't blame them. He knew that he was restless and nervous. He couldn't hold his legs still, not even for a second. So he decided to go out and run a few rounds around the building, but it didn't work.

There was still too much energy, so he was pacing up and down the corridor now.

God, he hoped that Tony would be okay!

Why wasn't he awake already?

Rogers sighed.

He was not much of a patient guy.

Waiting made him extremely nervous.

What if Tony would die?

No, no. Don't even think about that.

Everything will be fine.

The truth was that he began to like and respect Stark junior.

He could be a pain in the ass sometimes, but when you needed him, he was always there. To lose him would be….well, he just had to wake up!

He didn't realize until it was too late that he had punched his fist into the wall.

In that moment, a nurse came his way and Rogers turned around so that he would stand with his back to the wall to conceal the damage he had done.

"Ma'am" he greeted her and smiled. She blushed immediately and walked by without noticing the broken bits of concrete on the floor.

The door to Tonys room flung open and Thors head appeared. "Rogers? Come on in. He woke up."

Finally! Rogers followed the god of thunder and was relieved to see Tony sitting in his bed and smiling.

"Oh, thank god, you're okay!"

"Of course I'm okay. Did you think that one little Chitauri could kill the invincible Iron Man?"

"Stop it, Tony. We were really worried about you." Pepper said and squeezed his hand.

"I know, I know. But I'm fine now. I'm gonna be as good as new in a few days. Thanks for killing that son of a bitch. But what happened to Loki? I mean, he wasn't really outside the apartment, waiting for Fury, was he?"

"No, you're right. He was invisible at first and witnessed the whole thing. But then Thor found Loki somehow and questioned him, not for long though. He disappeared again. Just like that", Rogers snapped with his fingers, "he was gone. It seemed like someone took him or, I don't know…forced him to go somewhere. It was weird."

"Thor? What do you think about that? Do you know where Loki could be now?" Tony asked but the god of thunder was lost in his own thoughts.

"Thor? Hello, somebody home?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you ask me something?"

"Yes, I did. What's troubling you, pal?" Tony felt, that something was not how it should be with his friend. Thor was usually not that broody, well… not in such a rate anyway.

"Something happened on Asgard. I don't know what exactly. I have to go back and find out what's wrong. Will you be alright, Tony Stark?"

"Of course I will be. You don't have to hang around any longer. And if Loki should try to kill me again, I have the man in blue tights here to protect me." Tony grinned when he saw that Rogers shot him a sulky look. "So off you go, Thor!"

Thor nodded and said goodbye to the three of them. "If trouble occurs, I will be back."

* * *

All watching Heimdall knew that Thor was on his way back to Asgard, before he even heard him ask for a passage. And when Thor arrived the gate keeper was happy to see him. "Oh, mighty Thor, it is good that you are back once more. Things are not well in Asgard."

"What happened?"

"Well, you should go and see your father. He will tell you everything." Heimdall said and Thor did what he was told.

He headed for the glorious hall where the throne was and his first guess had been right. The king of Asgard was indeed sitting there and it was obvious that he was lost in dark thoughts.

"Father, I am home. Tell me what happened while I was in Midgard."

"Oh, Thor, your brother has stolen the Tesseract. He murdered two guards and not even the Destroyer was able to stop him. He was invisible but I knew that it was Loki, for I saw the portal that he opened for his escape and I know that only he has such powers."

Thor thought about this for a minute.

Why would Loki steal the Tesseract?

Another attack on Midgard?

No.

Maybe the Chitauri wanted it.

"It's the Chitauri. They forced Loki to do things in Midgard, they probably made him steal the Tesseract as well."

Odin nodded: "That's possible, but you can never be sure when it comes to Lokis acts. Thor, I want you to find him. Bring him back to Asgard and then I will question him as long as it takes me to find out the truth."

"But father…"

"Silence! I know what you're going to say, Thor, and I promise you that I'm not going to torture him again. He is my son, after all." Odins face was marked by sorrow and the god of thunder saw his own feelings mirrored. So he simply said:

"I will go and look for my brother then." He turned around, went back to Heimdall and asked the all-seeing gatekeeper to track down Loki once more.

"It is impossible, but I have to admit that I am currently not able to see your brother, Thor. Wherever he is, he does not want to be found, I assume. Only he possesses the magic power to shroud himself so that not even my eyes can detect him."

"That is unfortunate. But I might have an idea where he could be. Do you know where the planet of the Chitauri is? And if you do, could you bring me to that place?"

"I shall look for it immediately."


	20. Chapter 20

Thor listened.

It was too quiet.

He stood in front of something that looked like a black mountain with millions of holes in it.

Maybe it was their palace or whatever they called it.

It was dark and cold, but the stars above provided enough light to have a decent visibility.

Thor was holding his hammer in his right hand, ready to fight if someone would dare to attack him. He entered the mountain through one of the countless holes and realized immediately that his search for Loki might be harder than he had expected.

This place was like a labyrinth, myriads of corridors crossing each other and some of them were even dead-ends.

Also it was almost impossible so see something inside those cave passages.

Should he just wander around without a clue?

That wouldn't bring him closer to Loki.

That is if he was here at all.

He needed a plan, because in the end he had to find one of those exits again.

Suddenly there was a high pitched sound and seconds later, Thor was surrounded by Chitauri creatures.

All of them were hissing and snarling at him, but there was a bigger one that started to speak.

"You are not allowed to be here, it is forbidden to trespass the land of the Chitauri. We will bring you to our leader."

Well, that was easy, Thor thought. He didn't even have to think of a plan, the plan had come to him. If Loki was in fact on this planet, he would be either with the leader or imprisoned.

So as an exception he let himself be captured and escorted through those endless identical black corridors.

He tried to memorize the way they went in vain. It was a complete impossibility.

All of a sudden, they entered an impressive hall which had no ceiling at all, so the stars in the sky were could send their light into this huge room.

Now Thor was able to see that one of the Chitauri who had been standing next to a black table, was coming up to him.

"Oho, I know you! Aren't you one of those Avengers?" The creature wore a much more imposing armor than the others and had a self-satisfied look on his face.

"I am. And you are the leader of the Chitauri." Thor said.

"That is correct. Now tell me, why are you on our planet without an invitation?"

"I am looking for my brother Loki. He may have been here." Thor got interrupted.

"Really, that worm is your brother? Are you sure?" The leader laughed and shock his head in disbelieve.

"You saw him then?" The god of thunder decided to ignore the Chitauri's question.

"Saw? Haha…Yes, I 'saw' him. He actually worked for us, but unfortunately he got our leader killed. And now he has to pay. So turn around and go back to where you came from. You will never see him again. He is ours."

"You are wrong. I will not leave this place without my brother." Thor growled.

"Oh, you don't have to, you can stay here. In fact, if I think about it, it would be rather nice to have a second plaything."

Then the leader snarled at his minions, who surrounded the god of thunder and then they attacked him all of a sudden.

They tried to wrap an iron chain around his ankles but Thor fought them off. He swung his hammer in a circle and swept the ones in the first row off their feet.

As they saw his power, they send for backup immediately and within seconds, Chitauri creatures of every size and shape, were coming out of the black corridors into the great hall.

Thor fought tireless and tried to get closer to the black table where the leader had gone back to, the moment the fight had started.

If he could get his hands around that bastards neck…but then what?

He could threaten to kill him, so that his soldiers would back down.

Hmm, he thought, that could actually work. Thor spotted the leader and threw Mjolnir straight at him. The Chitauri was caught by surprise and couldn't escape the mighty weapon. It collided with his chest and the cracking of bones and the shattering of his armor was audible throughout the hall. Every single soldier stopped and didn't dare to move, as Thor grabbed their leader by the scruff of the neck. And now he spotted Loki who was chained to the black table.

"Now, unchain my brother and show us the way out of, or I swear I will kill you right here!"

"Ha, you wouldn't survive. The minute you snap my neck, my soldiers will rip you into shreds." The wounded leader spat blood as he spoke.

"I am the son of Odin! No one on this planet can kill me. You have felt the power I possess, and that was only half of it. Do as I say and you will live!"

The leader realized that his enemy was too powerful to face in a battle right now. He had to capitulate but that didn't mean that vengeance was out of the picture. His time would come, but the only thing that mattered now was to survive.

"Alright", he said through gritted teeth and commanded: "Torturer, free our little worm from the straps!"

The order was carried out at once.

Only now, Thor could take a good look at Loki. He was completely naked. Blood was gushing out of his mouth, covering his lips and cheeks. Even though the straps were removed, he made no attempt to get up.

"Loki, come with me, we are going home."

There was no answer, no reaction at all.

His brother continued to stare at the stars high above him.

"What have you done to him?" Thor screamed at the leader, tightening his grip even more.

"Oh, you know, just a bit of torture, nothing a god couldn't cope with. "

Thor fought the urge to kill the bastard with one single blow of his hammer. That monster was their ticket out of this lair, so unfortunately he needed him alive.

"Alright, tell one of your minions to carry my brother, while you and I will walk right behind him. My hand remains on your neck. You show us the way out, no one follows us. If you try anything stupid, you're dead. Understood?"

"Yes." The leader growled and began to speak to his people in a language Thor couldn't understand.

He'd better be instructing them what they had to do, Thor thought.

It seemed that he was obedient, though, because all the creatures started to crawl back into the dark corridors. Soon there was no one left in the big hall but the leader, the torturer, Loki and himself.

"Good, now show us the way out." Thor demanded and they started their journey through the dark labyrinth inside of the mountain.

* * *

Luckily he didn't have to pay too much attention to the leader, for he was still holding the neck of the Chitauri and so it was impossible to lose him in the dark.

When they finally reached one of the many exits, the leader said to him: "You may escape now, Odinson, but your brother is ours. We are not done with him. He has to pay for what he's done. One day, we are going to reclaim him."

"You won't get him back. I'll make sure of that. Now tell your soldier to lay Loki down on the ground and to step back."

The Chitauri did what he was told and his soldier carried out the task.

Thor released the leader and told him to stand right next to the torturer. When they stood side by side, Thor held his hammer high up and said: "You will never get my brother back. Never!" Loud thunder could be heard and suddenly a lightning, bright as day, struck down from the sky and killed the two unaware Chitauri in an instant.

Thor lowered his hammer and the clouds that had appeared out of nowhere vanished into thin air again.

"Heimdall!" He screamed. "Take us back." And within seconds, the two brothers were back in Asgard.

* * *

Here the sun was shining and the comforting sound of leaves rustling in the wind and birds singing songs to each other was all around them. Thor sighed. He was glad to be back and that he had been able to find Loki so fast.

Finally he had the time to take a look at the damage the torturer of the Chitauri had done.

Loki was lying on his back in the grass and he hadn't moved, not even a bit. Blood was still staining his face but it seemed to stop oozing out of his mouth.

Thor knelt down beside Loki and took the red cape off his own armor to cover his brothers' naked body with it.

"Loki, you are save now. Get up. We can walk back to the palace now. It's not that far."

There was no answer, he continued to stare into space.

"Well then, I guess I'm gonna carry you."

Thor shrugged as his brother didn't respond to that either and lifted him up to carry him on his shoulders.

They reached the palace without any interruptions but when Thor climbed up the stairs that lead to the throne room, his brother started to moan, as if he was in great pain.

"Only a few steps left and then you can lay down again, Loki. Hang in there."

They entered the magnificent hall and Thor did what he promised and laid his brother onto a couch. Loki however, did not remain on his back for long, he rolled to the side and threw up a gush of blood, but there were some kind of little fleshy pieces in it as well.

What the hell was that? Thor frowned.

When there was nothing left inside to throw up, Loki laid on his back again, holding his stomach. He stopped moaning but it was clear to see that he was still in agony.

"What is that?" Thor asked with a concerned look and pointed at the strange puddle on the floor.

"Loki, come on, talk to me."

But instead of an answer, Loki opened his mouth as wide as he could and Thor held his breath in horror.

"That on the floor is your…"

Loki nodded before his brother could end the sentence.

"What did they do to you?"

Thor was shocked and wasn't even sure if he really wanted to know every detail of the torture Loki had been through.

And it had to wait anyway, because his brother was unable to speak with his tongue lying in bits and pieces on the floor.

"Thor, my son! I see you've found Loki!"

The voice of Odin echoed through the hall. He and his wife walked up to their sons. The queen gave Thor a long hug and then kneeled down next to the couch to caress Lokis face and to whisper soothing words to him. He seemed to ignore her completely, staring into space again.

"What's wrong? Why is he like this? Why is his mouth bleeding, and what's that on the floor?" She asked worried.

"He was tortured by the Chitauri. He's been like this since I brought him back. I believe they cut his tongue out. Those are the remains on the floor. But he'll be fine, mother. He's save now, here with his family."

Thor explained and placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"Alright, Thor, get your brother to his chamber and make sure that he gets plenty of rest and everything he needs for his recovery." Odin said. "I will talk to him when he's well again."

Then he turned to Loki and sighed.

"Oh, Loki, I am not angry with you. Not anymore. But I want you to explain to me, why you took the Tesseract. I need to know the truth. I am not going to hurt you, or punish you. I believe you've suffered enough. So, when you feel well again come to me and we discuss the matter. Alright?"

There was no sign indicating that Loki had heard what's been said to him. He was completely catatonic.

Something inside of Thor feared that his brother was far more wounded as it seemed.

A god's body was capable of healing almost every injury, but his mind was as delicate as the one of a mortal.


	21. Chapter 21

Days went by and Thor visited his brother whenever he could but Loki still wouldn't talk to him.

He talked to no one.

Most of the time, he was sitting in a corner of his chamber and stared at the opposite wall or at his own naked feet.

He wouldn't touch the food or the water they brought him and soon he looked more like a ghost than a god.

Odin, his wife, Thor, Sif and even the warriors three tried to get him to eat, drink or at least talk to them but they all failed.

It seemed like Loki had abandoned his body and shut himself completely off to the world around him.

With every passing day without any kind of change, Thor got more and more impatient and frustrated.

So after a month, he grabbed Loki by the shoulders and forced him to stand up, although he had to hold him in place because his brother hand no strength left in his body.

"Come on, pull yourself together! Look at me!" Thor insisted. "Your tongue has grown back by now. It doesn't take that long for a god's body to heal an injury. So this is no excuse for you to remain silent. Please Loki, return to us! Where is my annoying brother with his tricks and his sly grin, with his ambition and his cocky behaviour? I beg you, snap out of it!"

There was no reaction at all, as usual and so Thor let go of Lokis shoulders. The younger gods legs gave out from under him and he fell to the floor. He banged his head on the wall behind him and the old Loki would have had a fit of rage, but now…nothing, not even a moan.

Thor realized that the simple passing of time would not be enough to heal his brother. He needed help. But who could provide this help?

* * *

"Father, Lokis wounds have healed, but he has locked himself up in his own mind. You've seen him, too. I can't convince him to return to us. However, I think there might be help on Midgard. I've come to you today, to ask for your permission. I want to take Loki to my friends on earth. Maybe they're able to help."

Odin looked at his son and frowned: "Do you really think they are going to help Loki, after all he has done to them?"

"True, it is a tall order but they are our only hope. They are much more skilled in dealing with the fragility of the mind than we are."

"Alright, I will allow you to go to Midgard with your brother." Odin said and his wife added: "Look after him, Thor!"

"I will, mother."

* * *

And so it came to pass, that Thor and Loki visited Midgard again. The god of thunder had to carry his brother, for he was too weak to do anything.

When they entered the S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, all eyes were on them.

People were whispering behind their backs.

They couldn't believe what they saw.

The mighty Thor brought the seemingly defeated god of mischief into their facility.

The villain was conscious, though he was not protesting. How could that be?

"I need to speak to Nick Fury." Thor said and what he demanded was done immediately. He was brought to a large room, where he could lay Loki down on a comfortable looking sofa and not long after he placed himself in a chair, Nick Fury arrived.

"Thor! You're back again." Fury smiled, but the corners of his mouth dropped the instant he became aware of Loki. "What the hell is he doing here? And why isn't he in chains or something?"

"That is why I'm here. Loki has been tortured in a way we could never imagine, I suppose. He is not the same anymore. I need your help."

"Could you explain that in detail?"

"I will, but can I ask you to assemble the Avengers? They all need to know what happened and maybe I need their help as well." Thor asked.

Fury nodded and with a suspicious glance at Loki, he walked out of the room to arrange everything to let the Avengers know that they had to come in.

* * *

Half an hour later, Fury and all the Avengers were sitting around a table in the big room Thor had been sitting and waiting. Everyone was staring in disbelieve at the catatonic Loki.

"So what did you say happened exactly?" Tony asked still puzzled at the fact that this bastard wasn't behind bars or chained to a nuke or something similar.

"Loki has been kidnapped by the Chitauri. He had to work for them. I do not know why exactly he had to, but he also had to steal the Tesseract for them."

"Whaaaat!" Banner shouted. "So that extremely dangerous device is in the hand of the Chitauri now? Didn't you tell us, that it is impossible to steal something from the weapons vault in Asgard?"

"Whoa, easy there, don't lose your temper. You know it's not good for you...and us." Tony teased him and smiled. But Banner just bit his lip and swallowed the things he wanted to say to Stark right now.

"Tony, stop it." Rogers was annoyed with Stark. He always had to joke about everything. He just got out of the hospital a few weeks ago and managed it to get on his nerves already.

"You are right," Thor admitted, "I said that. And it is normally true. But Loki knows Asgard and the weapons vault as well as I do and he somehow developed new powers. We were caught by surprise."

"Alright, but what's wrong with him now?" Barton asked and pointed at Loki on the sofa.

"Yes. So after he had helped the Other to attack Tony, he disappeared right in front of us, as you all have seen." Thor continued. "That was the Chitauri, they kidnapped him and punished him for the death of their leader. After a long search, I was able to free him again. But by then, Loki was already in this state. They tortured him. I don't know for how long and I don't know what they did exactly but it must have been horrible. One thing I know though, they cut his tongue out. It grew back again, but he still won't talk."

"Gross", was Tonys commentary on that.

"And now what? Why did you bring him here?" Fury wanted to know.

"I need your help. It's been a month now and Lokis condition still hasn't changed. He won't eat, drink, sleep, talk or do anything at all in fact. He just sits or lies somewhere and stares into space. I can't bare that. I know that he is responsible for a lot of destruction and pain here on earth and that you hate him. But he is my brother and I still remember what kind of man he used to be, I won't give up on him, I can't. Please, would you help him, for me?"


	22. Chapter 22

They agreed to help, of course they did.

Thor had helped them numerous times and he was a good and loyal friend.

So this decision was not that hard to reach.

However Thor had insisted that every team member had to give it a try to get Loki to talk or do something.

Any kind of reaction would be a reason to cheer for the god of thunder.

So Banner was on his way to the cell, where they kept Loki.

Fury would not take any chances by letting the god of mischief loose on his base.

Who could promise him, that Loki wasn't simply playing some kind of sick game?

Perhaps his mind was currently in another body, plotting and planning to create further chaos and destruction.

Who could tell?

So they kept him in a cell again, which was actually ridiculous.

If Loki wanted to escape, there was nothing to prevent him from doing so.

They'd seen it happen.

Perhaps Fury did it for a psychological reason, to calm all the agents and soldiers in this facility, so they wouldn't get nervous and do stupid things.

However, Banner was the first to visit Loki.

They had drawn straws and guess who'd picked the shortest one.

Banner entered the cell and there he was, sitting in one corner of the room, staring into space as usual.

This was a complete waste of time! I mean, come on! What should he say to this monster to make it feel better? There was nothing he had to say to Loki, nothing at all.

He cleared his throat and said: "Err…Hi…Look, I don't know what Thor is thinking, but he asked me to talk to you. So, here I am."

He shrugged and sighed. Boy, this was awkward!

He was aware of the security camera that made it possible for the other Avengers to witness what happened in here.

It made him feel even more uncomfortable.

"Well, since I don't know what to say, how about you tell me what happened to you?"

No reaction, no response, as usual.

Did he really think it was that easy? Banner sighed again.

"You can draw it, or write it down…I don't know. Just do something."

This was silly. The whole situation was absurd. What was he supposed to do?

Even Odin, the Allfather had not been able to help his son, so why did Thor think, that one of the Avengers talking to Loki would do the trick? Stupid.

"Listen to me", Banner said and grabbed Loki by the shoulders, "if you're not gonna snap out of this any time soon, I promise that I'll smash you against every single wall in this room. Do you hear me?"

Banner felt his pulse rise to a critical level.

Uh, oh, that was not good!

It seemed that the cameras were at least helpful for one thing. The Avengers had seen the sudden change in Banner and Romanoff was now entering the room.

"Bruce? Calm down, okay. Forget him. Let the next one try it."

"Relax. I have it under control. It's just..this whole thing…It's stupid. Why should he talk to us? We hate him and he hates us. Where's the logic in there?"

Banner snorted and left the room to calm down. Romanoff closed the door and followed him to the chamber where all the others were waiting and watching Loki.

"Who's next?" She asked and Fury answered: "Roger's supposed to go next, but he said that he had to get something first. Should we wait or does anyone wanna go right now?"

"Naahh, you shouldn't mess with the order of things. That's bad luck. Besides, Rogers will be back soon, I'm sure of that. We'll wait." Tony said and everyone, whose turn was yet to come, was relieved. They didn't want to go in there. Nothing they could do or say would be of any use.

* * *

Tony was right. Five minutes later, Rogers came back and he held a bunch of flowers in his hand.

"What's that? Are you gonna propose to him, or what?" Tony laughed in disbelief.

Rogers frowned and told him that it was absolutely normal, to bring flowers when someone was sick. "In fact it is courteous. Have you never heard of it?"

"Well, sure. But pal, it's Loki we're talking about here."

"So what? He's sick and he needs to be cheered up."

Tony shook his head but before he could comment on that last one, Fury stopped him.

"Go on then, Rogers, give it a try. We haven't got all day."

So now Rogers was off to Lokis room.

"Hey Loki", he greeted him, as he stepped through the door.

"I brought you some flowers. I actually don't know if you like them at all, but I figured they could cheer you up."

He had picked up a vase and had filled it with water on his way to the cell, so he was putting the vase right next to Loki on the floor now.

"Do you see? There are gerbera, calla lily, fern, carnation, and even one single red rose. Do you know those flowers? I have no idea what it looks like on Asgard, but there must be flowers. Am I right?"

Everyone in the observation room didn't believe what they just witnessed.

Loki nodded!

Or had it been just a figment?

No!

There it was again and now Loki was reaching for the flowers.

Unbelievable!

Tony was as dumbfounded as everyone else in this room right now.

That kid in tights was always good for a surprise.

It seemed like the world had no need of psychiatrists anymore, all it took to heal traumatized people was Captain America and a bunch of flowers.

Just unbelievable!

Rogers was equally amazed by the sudden reaction of his enemy.

Loki plucked out the single red rose the bouquet had contained and clasped the flower stem with both hands as tight as he could.

"Beautiful", he whispered and seemed to be mesmerized by this one flower.

"I was only dreaming." He said like he had to convince himself.

"What do you mean?" Rogers wasn't sure if Loki was even talking to _him_.

"Visions in my head, talking in my sleep, turning in my bed…it seemed so real but you see… I was only dreaming. Only dreaming. A dream."

Suddenly the flower stem broke in two and Loki looked up and into Rogers eyes.

"I broke it." He said, choking back tears. "I do that all the time, don't I?"

"No, don't say that. Here take a lily, I think its equal in beauty."

He took the rose out of Lokis hands. The god wasn't protesting.

Rogers saw that the thorns of the flower had bitten deep into the flesh and blood was trickling out of the tiny wounds.

"Jeez, didn't you feel that?"

"She was talking to me", was the puzzling answer to that.

The captain raised one eyebrow in bewilderment and decided not to respond.

Instead he removed the thorns one by one and when he'd done that, he gave Loki one of the calla lilies to hold.

"See, isn't this flower beautiful as well?"

"It's mute."

"Okay, err…why don't you tell me about your dream?"


	23. Chapter 23

Rogers was back in the room where all the Avengers were sitting and observing Loki.

But right now, they all watched the recording of the conversation the captain had held with Loki a few minutes ago.

* * *

"My dream?" Loki asked confused.

"Yes, you said you were dreaming, so what was it about?" Rogers's voice was heard, but they couldn't see his face because of the angle of the camera.

"This flower is dead, it won't talk to me. What did you do to it?"

"Ehm…nothing…I did nothing. Take a gerbera, maybe she's more talkative." Rogers said. He gave him one of the orange gerberas and took the calla out of his hands. "And?"

"She whispers. Can't understand her…must be a foreign language. But it sounds nice, like music."

Loki closed his eyes and sat there; listening to the music of the gerbera only he could hear, clasping the flowers stem as if he was afraid that someone would snatch it out of his hands.

Suddenly his eyes snapped open, he snorted and threw the flower away.

"It's no use. She could say anything to me, she could be mean to me and I wouldn't even know about it. I killed the one flower that liked me and told me things I wanted to hear. I am a monster. I destroy. It's who I am, isn't it?"

"It's who you were, yes. But you can change, Loki. You don't have to be what you don't want to be. Everyone has a choice."

Rogers was scribbling something down on a piece of paper he had found in the room and held it behind his back so the other Avengers who were watching got a good look at it.

There stood in capital letters 'get more roses'.

They did understand immediately what the captain meant and Fury had assigned a soldier to find some roses as fast as possible. It didn't take long for one of the agents to bring the roses to Lokis cell but when he entered the room, the god of mischief immediately fell back into the state he'd been in before.

Staring at his own feet again and not responding to anything that went on around him.

The soldier gave Rogers the bunch of roses and left. The captain took the other flowers out of the vase and put the roses there instead, then he sat next to Loki on the floor again and said: "Look, I brought you more."

He picked one rose out of the bouquet and placed it into Lokis hand. "Does it talk to you too?"

A faint smile appeared on the gods face and Rogers sighed.

He'd thought that he'd lost him.

Clutching the roses stem like before, Loki said: "Yes."

"Now tell me, what was your dream about?"

"I was looking for air but there was none. Air is vital and pure. They took it from me."

"So...you say they strangled you?"

"No, no, they ripped out the thing one needs to breathe. Haha...yes, you are right there is no sun."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Rogers frowned.

Loki looked at him confused and said: "I wasn't talking to you."

"Right...ehm...do you remember anything else from your dream?"

"They took my skin away as well. Do you know how long it takes to regenerate skin for an entire body?"

"No, I'm afraid, I don't." Rogers swallowed hard, he felt pity for Loki. He couldn't imagine how much he had suffered.

"I was asking the rose, of course _you_ don't know. You are a mortal. They are dumb. They never know the important things."

So much for feeling pity for that madman, Rogers thought. Despite the insult, he was determined to find out more. He came so far; he just had to keep trying.

"Maybe you're right, but you could continue to tell me about your dream, can't you?"

Loki looked at Rogers and frowned. "...yes, yes, that is a good question...the rose wants to know why you keep asking me about my dream. Are you a spy?"

"No, I'm not a spy. I am your friend. I brought you flowers, remember? I care about you, I want to help you but for that I need to know what happened to you."

"You are my friend? I can't remember having any? But she says I should trust you, although I disagree with her on that, I will do what she suggests."

Loki said and the captain assumed that the female who spoke in his favour was most likely the rose. Whatever, he thought, as long as he kept talking to _him_.

"Good, then tell me."

"Alright, the last bit of my dream was...well...I...no, I can't talk about it." Loki looked like he felt nauseous and he started to hug the rose he'd been holding in his hands for the past few minutes.

He pressed it hard against his chest and muttered words into the rose petals.

Rogers tried to encourage him: "Hey, it was only a dream, remember? It didn't really happen."

Then barely audible, Loki said one sentence in such clarity that Rogers blood ran cold.

"They cut out my tongue and forced me to eat it, fifteen times."

The captain was so shocked that he wasn't capable of an appropriate response.

"There, I told you everything about my dreams, so GO now! I want to be alone! Leave my room!" Loki stood up and started to scream at Rogers.

"I said: GO! Are you deaf? GOOOOOO!"

"Okay, okay...I'll go. I'll go, just calm down, alright?"

While saying that, the Avenger got up and left the room.

* * *

The recording stopped and Fury rose to speak.

"Well, as I said before, good job, captain. The flower-thing worked. So what do we know now?"

"That those Chitauri-guys know how to torture. Man, those things would never occur to me! What was it...? First they ripped out his lungs, then they skinned him alive and in the end, they cut out his tongue and forced him to eat it and that fucking fifteen times. I mean, come on...! That's how one imagines hell to be like, right?" Tony shock his head in disbelieve. No wonder Thors brother had gone nuts.

"One thing bothers me though, why isn't his mind healing like all the other parts of his body. So Thor... you are gods and pretty much indestructible, why doesn't your mind repair itself?", was Banners question.

"It is not so easy to explain. See, Lokis mind is constantly trying to heal itself, but it can't succeed. It's like you would take a vase and smash it, then pick up the pieces and glue them together, only to smash it again." Thor explained to his friends.

"So basically, Loki smashes his mind to pieces time and time again?" Hawkeye said dryly.

"There is our solution", Tony said sarcastically, "We need to prevent him from smashing his mind. Piece of cake!"


	24. Chapter 24

The first step was done.

Loki spoke again. Well, most of the time he had long conversations with the roses, but whatever, he talked.

So the next obstacle to overcome was to get him to eat and drink.

Mens sana in corpore sano - a healthy mind in a healthy body.

He looked like a skeleton and that had to change.

This was the only thing the Avengers' had come up with so far. And since Loki trusted only Rogers, he was the one who had to test their ideas.

In the beginning it was impossible for the captain to convince Loki to swallow even one sip of water. He was so traumatized of being forced to eat his own tongue.

But one day, out of the blue, he ate the soup Rogers had brought him and when the captain asked him why he suddenly ate again, the answer was simple: "The rose told me to do so."

Weeks passed and Loki soon looked healthier and was no longer staring into space when Rogers wasn't around. Instead he used to walk up and down in his small room now, holding a rose close to his chest, stroking her petals and muttering words that were barely audible.

However, every time Rogers entered the room, he stopped immediately and looked at him with a mixture of joy and guilt. The mental torment was visible in the depths of his eyes, but Rogers knew that he had to give Loki time. There was no use to press him to explain his feelings, they were probably too complicated and too much in a turmoil at the moment.

One evening Rogers had an idea.

He wanted to see some progress and so he decided to shake things a bit up.

It could end in a disaster, or it could actually work. He had to try it anyway.

He invited all the Avengers to dinner in a meeting room in the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters and Loki had to join them.

To his surprise the god agreed under one condition, he wanted to take two roses with him. And of course that was no problem at all.

Dressed in black pants and a shirt of the same color, holding a rose in each hand, Loki was following Rogers through the corridors.

Fury had provided some of the spare uniforms for Loki. They were more comfortable and besides the clothes the god had been wearing since the day he'd arrived on earth, had definitely been in need of a wash.

The others were already sitting around the table, talking about their day, joking and laughing. However, there was instant silence, the minute Rogers and Loki entered the room.

Everyone stared at the god with a mixture of dread, hate and pity.

"Ehm…what's he doing here?", Tony was the first to break the awkward silence.

"I invited him for dinner. Now let's eat", Rogers said as cheerful as he could and hoped once again, that the whole thing wouldn't end in a disaster.

The captain sat down and expected Loki to do the same, but the god stood perfectly still, almost like a statue.

But then he approached the table, raising his hands. The red roses were shrouded in some kind of green energy and seemed to glow. The Avengers were transfixed by the sudden change.

Loki was no longer insecure, confused, hurt or lost. He appeared to be totally in control, self-assured and determined. An evil grin spread across his face as he saw the confusion in everyone's eyes. In a split second the Avengers were tied to their chairs with some kind of thorn scrub, which had appeared magically.

It was stronger than any plant they've ever encountered and its thorns were relentlessly biting into their skin.

The clothes were no hindrance. The thorns went through the fabric as if it was merely air.

"Now, my chance has finally come!" Loki said, laughing. "The mighty Avengers will soon be history and I can rule the world after all."

"Oh, come on! Not again!" Tony moaned and rolled his eyes but he regretted his words immediately. The thorny twine tightened its clasp even more and Tony gasped as he felt the spikes cut deeper into his flesh.

"Do not mock me!" Loki growled, "I can crush you all in a matter of seconds."

"Oh, yeah? Why don't you do it then? Get on with it, will you! Because I'm getting very angry right now and you know what happens when I lose my temper." Banner was trying hard not to change into the Hulk, he was afraid of hurting innocent people on the base if he'd change now. But…boy! This god was a pain in the ass!

"But how…? I mean…you tricked us into believing that you were insane, just to wait for an opportunity to kill us?" Rogers was hurt. He'd grown fond of Loki and couldn't accept that everything should have been a lie. "Did you act the whole time?"

"Oh, no,no. I was in fact pretty well done for. But thanks to you and your roses, I've found a way to heal my mind. And for that I am truly thankful. I'll kill you as quick and as painless as I can."

"Oh! Cut the crap! You're not gonna kill anyone in this room!" Hawkeye growled and couldn't stop to eye Banner. He was afraid that the scientist would lose the battle with his anger.

So was Romanoff. She sat next to Banner and tried to calm him down.

Suddenly a deep voice like thunder was to be heard, it made the whole room vibrate and silenced everyone in there. "Enough!"

Until now, Thor had been the quiet observer. He was trying to figure out if Loki was telling the truth or not. Was he acting under orders again, or was he still insane? Anyway, he had to put an end to it.

"This is madness, Loki. These are your only friends on earth and you want to kill them? They forgave you all the things you've done and that is huge, considered that you are responsible for a lot of pain they had to endure. But they put their anger aside and helped me to look for a way to heal your mind. Especially Rogers. He twisted his mind day and night only to help you. He cares about you, don't you see that? Why do you always push those away who love you?"

Love me? Loki thought and frowned. He let his sight rest on every Avengers face for a few seconds and tried to find the love his brother was talking about.

Banner showed nothing than pure anger.

Romanoff was worried, but mostly about the Hulk.

Hawkeye was in an emotional turmoil, a part of him still admired Loki and for that he felt ashamed and tried to muster as much hatred as he could.

Tony made no secret of his feelings. He looked at the god, as if he was something rotten and despicable.

If that was love, Loki could easily live without it.

Then he caught a glimpse of Rogers's expression and he turned his head to get a better look.

What he saw in the eyes of this man was something he wasn't used to. There was no pity, no anger or hate, there was no mocking, no arrogance or submissiveness.

The only thing Loki saw was sympathy, pure and honest sympathy. The captain didn't avert his eyes, not for a second.

A warm and soothing sensation began to fill out Lokis chest. All the tension and resentment fell from him, like a weight had been lifted. He let go of the roses, they withered in a matter of seconds and fell to the floor. The thorn scrub died along with them and vanished into thin air. The only proof that this plant had existed, were the marks it had left on the skin of every Avenger.

As soon as the twine had dissolved, Rogers got up from his chair and took Loki in his arms. While hugging him, he whispered into the gods' ear: "I'm proud of you."

Loki felt his knees weaken. Those words seemed to drain him and he wasn't sure if he could find the strength to do anything else than just stand here in the arms of this human and breathe.

Finally, he whispered: "Why?"

"Because you changed. You didn't kill us. As I said, you can be whatever you wanna be, Loki. You don't have to be the bad guy."

Rogers could feel that Loki started to shiver and that he struggled to remain standing on his own feet.

"You don't know what you are saying. I don't have a choice." Loki said before he disappeared without a trace once again.


	25. Chapter 25

The Avengers looked at each other and everyone's' face expressed a similar level of confusion. Loki had disappeared in a blink of an eye. Again!

But where did he go this time?

Was it a second abduction by the Chitauri?

"Did I say something wrong?" Rogers asked and sighed.

He felt unbelievably tired.

He had done all he could to make Loki feel like he belonged, he had shown him that he understood and that he cared about the things the god had to say.

He had treated him like a friend and unconditionally accepted him, with all his flaws.

And now...?

All the effort and hours of talking to him for nothing?

Why was Loki so convinced that he had no choice? That he couldn't change?

"Well what did you say to him? We couldn't hear it." Tony said.

Rogers told them what he'd said and what Lokis answer had been. But the others couldn't make heads or tails of the whole thing either.

Except Thor, he seemed to know something.

"Come on, big fella, tell us what's buzzing through your head." Tony was sure that the god kept quiet about something that could shed a little light on the matter.

And indeed Thor sighed and started to reveal his thoughts.

"As you know, we are gods. And every god in Asgard has a function, a destiny. We can't choose our way in life. Even before we are born, there are prophecies about us. So we can struggle as much as we want and try to avoid it all, but in the end they always have to come true, in one way or the other."

"Alright. And what does it say about Loki? What's his destiny then?" Rogers asked, although he didn't really want to know it. According to the look on Thors face, it couldn't be something good.

"One day, Loki will kill Balder our kind-hearted brother and bring Ragnarök upon Asgard. No one knows when and how exactly, but it is bound to happen. It will be the death of Odin, me and millions of other gods. Even Loki will die."

Thinking about this dark and inevitable future, Thor's heart felt heavy.

"Maybe that's what Loki meant, when he said, that he had no choice. After all, he is the god of mischief and he can't run from that."

"That sucks." Was Banner's comment and the others nodded in unison.

They all began to understand Lokis inner conflict rudimentary.

Some of them had a similar fate.

Banner never chose to be the Hulk, Tony never chose to have an arc reactor in his chest, but both of them have had the chance to turn it into something good and now they were a part of this, they were members of the Avengers.

But Loki could run as long and as far as he wanted, his fate would catch up with him one day. Until then, he had to be what he always was and will be; the trickster god.

All of a sudden a device began to beep and before Tony could react, a voice could be heard: "Sir? You might want to return to your mansion. There is someone in your laboratory. I wasn't able to keep him out."

Jarvis sounded a little worried and irritated.

"What? Who is it and what's he doing?"asked Tony but he already had a suspicion.

"I don't know who it is, but he sits on the floor and is disassembling one of your Iron Man armors."

"What! Well, stop him!"

"I can't, Sir! That's what I am trying to tell you. It is illogical and I never thought that I would say this one day, but he seems to have magic powers. He blocks all my attempts of stopping him and he has some kind of energy shield around him now, nothing can penetrate it. I even threw your coffee mug at him…. Ah, yes. You might want to get a new one."

Tony rolled his eyes and sighed. "Guys, you heard it. I have to go. Anyway, I think you should join me. I have no clue why…but Loki seems to be at my place."

* * *

When they arrived at Tony Starks place, the intruder was still sitting on the floor, surrounded by a green light which was apparently the magic shield Jarvis had been talking about.

And indeed, the nighttime housebreaker turned out to be Loki.

He sat there, so deeply absorbed in his work that he didn't even notice that the Avengers had entered the room.

In front of him was a piece of the Iron Man suit, it looked like it had once been an arm. Loki was carefully taking it apart.

"Hey you, madman, is anyone at home? Come on…stop playing around with my stuff. Knock it off!" Tony tried to put his hand through the shiny green light, but it gave him such an electrical shock that he stumbled back, gasping. "Ouch! Man, really?"

"I told you, it is impenetrable, Sir!" Jarvis voice echoed through the room.

"Yes, you did."

"So why did you have to touch it then?"

"You didn't say it would give me a jolt."

"Do you always touch things that look dangerous?"

Rogers finally cut in and said: "Tony, please. We need to focus on something else, here. Okay?"

Tony poked his tongue out at one of Jarvis's sensors and then turned to Rogers: "Yeah, yeah..of course. So what now? Did he lose his marbles again? Or is this yet another plan to kill us all. That would be kinda boring."

"How should I know? I could be either of it." Rogers sat down on the floor in front of Loki.

"I thought you were the Loki-whisperer."

"Haha…very funny, Tony. Now shut up."

The captain took a rose out of his pocket and placed it on the floor right were the energy shield began.

He had brought the flower with him just in case and as it turned out he was right to bring it.

"Loki? Look, there is a rose. Do you see it? What's it saying? Can you tell me?"

The gods' hands stopped moving and his eyes caught the red flower which looked a bit battered, after being carried in a pocket of Rogers jacket.

When he finally began to speak, Loki didn't answer any of the captains' questions and he seemed not in the least insane.

"I can't change what and who I am, Steve. Believe me, I've tried. I always trick myself into doing things, which I regret afterwards. I am the god of mischief. I might not know what I am _exactly_, whether I'm an Asgardian or a frost giant, an abomination or something new and better. I don't know. I may never know, but one thing I am sure of, I am the trickster god. There is no doubt about that. Because right now, Asgard is at war because of me and for that I'm truly sorry."

Loki turned around to face Thor and said: "Brother, I am _really_ sorry."

Thors eyes widened and he took a step towards his brother, who was now standing up and suddenly the green shield around him dissolved in a matter of seconds.

"Loki! What did you do?" Thors words were almost as loud as thunder and he grabbed his brother by the shoulders and shook him.

Rogers jumped up and wanted to interfere, but then he reconsidered his intent and waited for Lokis answer.

And what he heard made him feel like someone had hit him in the stomach with an iron bar.

"As you know, I brought Thanos the Tesseract and when I did that, he told me, that he would only free me under one condition. I had to show him and his army a way into Asgard. Before I came here, when you saw me disappear a few minutes ago, I was summoned by Thanos. And I had to show him the way. They are invading Asgard as we speak. Heimdall will not detect them until it's too late. He can't see the portals I create."

"No, no, NO!" Thor screamed and punched Loki in the face as hard as he could.


	26. Chapter 26

The force of Thors blow was so strong that it flung Lokis body half across the room, until a table stopped his flight in an ungentle way.

The impact left Loki gasping for air and he collapsed on the floor, fighting in vain against the dizziness in his head.

He wasn't able to get up and he feared that the next punch would send him into the deep and dark land of the unconsciousness.

He could see his brother approaching and he closed his eyes. He deserved it, every single painful blow.

But then, nothing happened and he opened up his eyes again, to see what went on.

Rogers stood in front of Thor, blocking the gods' way.

"Stop it, this is not helping. Take us with you to Asgard, we'll help you. We'll fight for your people, right, guys?"

He said and scanned his friends' faces for approval. He found it; they nodded and seemed to think the same. They had to help Thor as best they could.

Thor tried hard to swallow his anger, but Rogers was right. To beat up Loki wouldn't help his family and friends in Asgard, but returning with the Avengers in his coat-tails most certainly would. Well, they weren't as strong as the gods, but they still had proofed themselves as good warriors.

"Alright, I accept your offer. You will return with me to Asgard. But first, I need more information." Thor pushed the captain aside and grabbed Lokis left arm, to squeeze it as hard as he could. The younger god cried out in pain as his arm broke with a loud crack.

"Who is this Thanos and what is he capable of, what is his goal? Speak! And I dare you…do not lie to me!"

"I won't lie, I won't! Just stop hurting me, please!" Loki begged and Thor let go of his arm.

"He was the one, who provided me with the Chitauri army when I attacked Midgard. In exchange I should have brought him the Tesseract, which I did, though a little later than expected, but I kept my promise.

Nevertheless, he told me that he would keep an eye on me, because he might have use of me in the future.

He said I owed him for delivering the Tesseract too late.

And today, the minute he realized that I was no longer lost in my head, he snapped with one finger and I found myself standing in front of him.

He gave me the order to create a portal to Asgard, one that Heimdall couldn't see and he told me that I would no longer be bound to him, if I did what he commands.

I have no clue what his goal is and what he's capable of, but from what I saw, I'd say he's very powerful and his army is huge. And that's the truth, brother, I swear."

"We'll see about that. Bring us to Asgard." Thor demanded.

"Whoa, wait a minute. I have to get my armor first, the one that Loki didn't use for coping with his stress." Tony said, while throwing an annoyed look at the trickster.

Luckily all the other Avengers had brought their weapons along, because when they had left the headquarters, they'd prepared themselves for a fight with Loki.

"And I have a question, Thor. Has a human being ever set foot on Asgard before? How do you know that we can enter the world of the gods, let alone breathe there?" Banner hated it, when he couldn't check things thoroughly before he actually had to do them.

This mission could go wrong in so many ways.

"Oh, don't worry, you'll be fine." Thor started to get a little bit excited about this.

His friends would finally see his world, the place he was born and raised. Would they be staggered by the beauty and glory of his father's palace? What would they think?

But then his thoughts got darker again, when he became aware of the doom that his world was now facing. They had to hurry.

"Loki! Get up and do as I said. Bring us to Asgard. No tricks or schemes, you've done enough damage."

With the help of Rogers, Loki got to his feet again, pressing the broken arm against his chest.

The movement sent a jolt of pain up to his shoulder and made him gasp for breath.

The captain eyed him worryingly, rested his hand on the tricksters shoulder in an attempt to comfort him and asked: "Are you okay? This is gonna heal, right?"

So much kindness, after all he'd done?

What was wrong with this human?

Loki frowned and instead of an answer, he simply nodded.

How could Rogers still like him, knowing that he created a gateway for an entire army, who was now about to destroy the home of Thor? Thor, who was Rogers' friend.

It made no sense at all.

Suddenly the captains' voice jolted him out of his thoughts: "What? Is something wrong?"

Loki realized that he'd been gazing at him the whole time.

But before he could come up with a plausible explanation, Thor growled at him once again.

In the meantime, Tony had changed into Iron Man and was ready to go as well.

"Alright, then, you should gather behind me. Do not step into the portal until I say you can." With these words, Loki took a deep breath.

He had to concentrate really hard to push all the confusion and the nagging thoughts aside that were filling out his head at the moment.

Slowly, out of nowhere, there was a crack to be seen. It expanded really fast and soon there was a hole in the middle of Tony's laboratory. Inside they could only make out green fog and nothing else.

"How does he do that?" asked Banner, looking puzzled at Tony.

"How the hell should I know? I'm a scientist not Harry Potter." was Tonys' response, and Banner rolled his eyes.

That man couldn't be serious for one single minute!

Certainly, he was a genius and as Iron Man almost unbeatable, but annoying as hell.

"Sir! I have to inform you that ripping a hole into time and space is far from secure, let alone stepping through it. I am not sure if all my systems will work flawlessly in Asgard. This is a huge risk." Jarvis sounded a tiny bit worried and that made Tony smile.

"Oh, come on. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!"


	27. Chapter 27

Guilt.

Could this oppressive feeling be guilt?

The hand that was holding his heart and squeezing tight, the rope wrapped around his windpipe, so that he could barely breathe, were this sings of a bad conscience?

And the knot in his stomach, that felt like he had swallowed a stone, was this too indicating that he'd done the wrong thing?

Shouldn't he be free of something as human as feeling guilty?

He always did what he wanted without the slightest scruple.

His conscience never stood in his way, there was never a wrong, what he did was always justified. But this time everything was different.

Why did his body protest with such vigour?

He wanted them dead, didn't he?

It's been his wish ever since they'd defeated him on earth.

So why the sudden hesitation, why the sentiment?

Well, it was true, they did help him, when he'd lost his mind, especially Rogers.

Was this then the reason? Did he feel like he owed them?

Nonsense!

This social rule didn't apply to him.

But still…

How could he get rid of this unsettling feeling that was eating away at him?

Loki stood in front of five iron barred cages and tried to hide the emotional storm that was raging through him, when he glanced at the prisoners inside of them.

His sweaty and pale face however wasn't easy to hide and showed that something was amiss.

"What's wrong, Loki? Having second thoughts?"

Thanos grinned at him and seemed to enjoy the gods discomfort. When he saw him shaking his head, he added: "Go on then, kill them, or I'll do it for you."

"Why do it so quickly? Can't I torture them for some time first? I want to create memories that will stay forever and when I'm bored I can relieve them in my head over and over again."

Thanos frowned and smiled at the same time.

"You are indeed the god of mischief. You start to engage my sympathy for you after all. The Other was wrong. You are not a worm, you are a snake. That's why I am going to grant you this wish. I'll return to the battlefield. Have fun!"

Loki felt an incredible sense of relief. He could breathe more easily, now that he bought himself some time.

His legs and hands were shaking and sweat was dripping from his nose.

What was going on?

Why did he tell Thanos that he wanted to torture them?

Loki sank to the floor and rested his back against a nearby tree-trunk. Never before had he felt so weak and incapable of doing what he had to do.

But he knew that it was inevitable. Thanos would return to check on him, and if he saw that the prisoners hadn't even been scratched, Loki would have to face an even bigger problem then.

So I just need to put all those silly human feelings aside and get it over with, he told himself.

* * *

"Odin! Father! As soon as I heard that Asgard is under attack, I returned. How can I help?"

Thor rushed into the throne room, where he found the Allfather disputing with a tall intimidating figure.

The stranger saw him approach and started to grin: "Ah, the mighty Thor, the god of thunder. We meet at last."

"You are Thanos." Thor said with a killing glance.

"Oh, you heard of me?….ah, of course, your brother told you, when he carried out my order to lure you and your friends to Asgard. He did a good job by the way. Did you know that your Avengers have no power whatsoever on this planet? _He_ knew, your brother knew. Haha…"

Thor stared at him in disbelieve. "That is not true. We came out of the portal in front of the palace and they are waiting for me there. I told them I'd return with instructions of my father. They were perfectly fine when I left them."

"Were they? Really?" Thanos laughed. "They are no longer waiting for you. Loki is taking care of them as we speak. Don't worry, he's not gonna kill them, at least not yet. He wants to torture them first, so he said, to savour the moment. I must say, he's growing on me."

No, no, it can't be, Thor thought.

He whirled his hammer and flew back to the place where he'd left his friends.

Gone!

The only thing he found was Rogers shield, lying on the floor, abandoned.

He picked it up and returned discouraged to Thanos and his father.

The same old question was whirling through his head: Why? Why would Loki do such a thing?

Thanos laughed again, when he saw the god of thunder return alone and with his head hanging.

"Where did you take them? I demand to know!" Thor growled.

"Do you really think you are in the position to demand something from me? I doubt it. Pick a window and take a look outside. Asgard is at war. Your people are dying. My army is much bigger than yours and they fight without mercy. I will not tell them to stop and I will not reveal the whereabouts of your friends, unless your father yields to me."

Thor looked at Odin with a worried expression. What was his father's plan?

"He wants me to kneel in front of him; he wants all of Asgard to kneel in front of him. I can't allow that!" Odin's voice was loud and clear. "We will win this battle! With Thor back, nothing can bring Asgard to its knees."

"Oh, but you see, Thor can't fight. If he does, the Avengers will die, one by one."

"You can't do that!" Thor screamed and whirled his hammer ready to strike.

But Thanos raised a finger in warning and shook his head: "Ah,ah,ah…I wouldn't do that, if I were you. And now to you Odin, will you yield?"

The Allfather gave his son an apologetic look and said with a firm voice: "Never!"

"Then Asgards is doomed. We'll see each other on the battlefield, Odin. And Thor, remember, I have eyes and ears everywhere. If you fight, they die!"

After those words were said, Thanos disappeared, leaving the two gods with their grim thoughts behind.


	28. Chapter 28

When Thanos came back to the place where his prisoners and Loki were, he couldn't believe his eyes. There was blood!

A lot of blood, on the ground, on the iron bars…everywhere!

What had happened?

Thanos spotted Loki standing next to one of the cages, his hands were dripping with blood as well and big dark stains covered his clothes, even his face was blood-splattered.

But instead of being pleased with his work, the god of mischief looked terrified.

He even seemed to be in some kind of pain.

What was going on?

Thanos decided to take a closer look at the tortured prisoners.

His breath caught when he realized that all the Avengers were dead.

Every single one of them had the same deep gash in the throat and a shocked expression on the face.

Thanos turned around and focused on Loki, who was staring at his own hands in shock, muttering something that wasn't audible.

"Loki! Why did you kill them? Didn't you tell me, that you wanted to play with them first? What happened? I mean, don't get me wrong. It's fine, I wanted them dead anyway. But why the sudden haste?"

Loki looked at him, as if he'd seen him for the first time and stuttered: "I killed them…I really killed them."

"Yes I can see that, but why?" Thanos frowned.

The god of mischief seemed to be unable to cope with the question, so he decided to let the matter go: "You know what? Never mind. The main thing is…they're dead. That's all I wanted. You gotta get rid of the bodies though. Thor won't fight for Asgard as long as he thinks he can keep his precious friends alive that way. So he should better not find out about our little secret! Understand?"

Loki looked now even more shocked than before.

Thor!

What would Thor do to him, if he found out about it?

He shuddered to think.

Until now Thor had always forgiven him and told him that they would be brothers no matter what. But could he forgive him for murdering his friends?

This was it!

Thor is going to kill him, there was no doubt about that.

Loki shuddered again, when he realized that he'd secretly wished for it.

He'd wanted it that way all along.

It had to be his brother's hands that would send him to hel.

"Stop, shivering and start getting rid of these bodies, will you?"

Thanos voice yanked him out of his thoughts and brought him back to his gruesome act.

"Yes, I do it immediately." Loki muttered and lowered his head in obedience.

"Good, and in case your brother decides to drop by, keep your mouth shut. I have to return to the battlefield, Odin is joining his army now and I need to find out what he's up to."

Thanos grinned, turned around and left Loki alone again, alone with a bloody mess to clean up.

* * *

The silence around him was all-consuming.

The sun and the blue sky of Asgard seemed to mock him.

Rain or at least a cloudy sky would have been much more suitable.

Suddenly, there was this word again, requiring admission to his head and demanding to be answered.

WHY?

Why did he do this?

Why did he kill the Avengers and how?

He couldn't even remember doing it.

The only thing he recalled was blood.

Blood everywhere!

Did he do it with magic or with his bare hands?

Did they struggle, did they fight?

Scream and shout?

Loki couldn't recall.

He stepped toward the cell where Rogers body was leaning against the iron bars.

Instead of his throat, there was a wet red gaping hole.

Loki gagged but couldn't avert his eyes.

He had to look at Rogers face.

The painful death had left its marks but there was something else in the captains wide open eyes. Forgiveness?

Could it be forgiveness?

"Don't do this!

Don't look at me like that.

Why can you forgive me?

All the things I've done to you.

I betrayed you and pushed you away, but you still wanted to be my friend.

Look where it got you!

You are dead!

Don't you realize that being my friend means nothing but pain?

I will always lie, cheat, betray and scheme.

You should have known better!

I'm sure Thor warned you.

Don't forgive me for killing you!

Just don't!"

Loki stared at the dead body's face and suddenly he yanked the door open with such force that he unhinged it.

The god stepped into the cage and fell down to his knees.

He didn't care, that the blood puddle on the ground soaked his clothes anew.

"I SAID: DON'T!"

He screamed and felt tears welling up.

Overwhelmed and confused by his conflicting emotions, Loki slumped completely to the ground and took the captain into his arms.

Sitting in one corner of the cage, resting his back on the iron bars, Loki clung to the dead body of Rogers and rocked him slightly back and forth.

"I'm sorry for screaming at you. I'm sorry that you trusted me. I'm so sorry….for all I've done. I will make it all better. I promise."

The god mutters and tears were now running down his face, washing some of the blood spatter off.

Loki was so lost in his one sided conversation with the captain, that he didn't notice that the sun had disappeared.

Dark grey and black clouds had covered the sky in less than a minute.

A flash of lightning illuminated the surrounding area and an intimidating loud thunder made the ground vibrate.

Eventually Loki raised his eyes and the sight of the person standing in front of him curdled his blood.

He is here, Loki thought, he is here to kill me. Finally.


	29. Chapter 29

**_I wanna thank you guys for your patience. Enjoy the new chapter and I'm confident that the next update will follow soon. Thanks for all the reviews! I love them and I'm always so happy to read what you think about my story so far. _**

* * *

No, no, it can't be!

They can't be dead!

Seeing his brother sitting on the blood-soaked floor in a cage, arms wrapped around the dead captain's body, cradling him even, caught Thor off guard.

He'd expected to find him torturing his friends with a satisfied look on his face, not crying and hiding in the corner of a cage.

"Loki!"

Thor's voice was loud and clear, he tried to keep calm though.

He had to analyze the situation, had to find out what happened to his friends.

They couldn't be dead, right?

Maybe it was all a trick, an illusion.

"Speak! What happened?! Who did this?!"

There was no response but Loki had stopped crying and raised his head.

Red swollen eyes were staring at Thor now, fear and panic clearly visible in them.

But then something inside Loki seemed to shift. He got up, stepped out of the cage so that he stood in front of Thor now, with a straight back, his jaw shut but his gaze was lowered to the floor.

He looked like someone who knew that punishment was inevitable and knew that he had to accept it no matter what.

So far Thor had succeeded in staying calm, but this resigned expression on his brothers' face was too much to take.

"Tell me! Now!"

He demanded, anger rising inside of him as a suspicion to what might have happened here found its way into his head.

"Loki!" He said with a dangerous edge to his voice, "I'm not going to ask you again!"

"Me, " Loki muttered and then a bit louder: "Me, it was me. I killed them. Do with me as you please. Kill me, torture me, put me in the darkest dungeon, I don't care."

The anger inside of Thor reached a critical level.

It started to consume his whole body, spreading like a wildfire.

There was nothing he could do to stop it.

He didn't want to.

The red hot blazing emotion that had him in its grip turned now into something else, something much worse than anger; hatred.

At this moment, this particular phase of his life, he hated his brother for the first time.

Every nerve in his body, every muscle, every single atom that was him, wanted to crush Loki, see him suffer and show him the wrath of Thor, the god of thunder.

He swung his hammer and knocked his brother off his feet with all his might.

The weapon returned to him and Thor flew to the spot where Loki had landed hard on the ground. Moaning in pain but still conscious, the god of mischief couldn't move.

His body was jammed between two sharp rocks and he wasn't able to free himself alone.

Thor grabbed him by his now torn black shirt and pulled him ruggedly out.

They both heard several of Lokis rips snap, but neither of them cared.

In fact, Thor was pleased to hear that sound.

It meant pain for this sadistic little monster.

He'd always denied it, but maybe it was true, maybe Loki had been right all along about himself being an abomination.

A normal man couldn't kill the only people, who cared about him, could he?

Well, whatever, he was done with being nice and considerate.

Thor let go of his hammer, so that it fell to the ground right next to his feet.

He wouldn't need his weapon for what he was about to do.

Loki didn't lift a finger to protect or defend himself.

His brother had now one hand clasped around his throat and the other punched him in the face, again and again.

First there were only lacerations and bruises to be seen, but soon bones started to break until his face was no longer recognizable.

Loki never screamed or begged Thor to stop, because in his eyes, he deserved every single blow.

This was a just punishment and he wouldn't run from it.

Although he wasn't able to recall the act itself, he was sure that deep down it had been his decision to kill the Avengers.

After Thanos had left, there had been no one else around but him and the prisoners from Midgard. Therefore he must have been the killer. There was no other explanation, right?

"Why, brother! Why did you kill them?!"

Thor screamed and stopped hitting Lokis face for a moment.

The god of mischief wasn't capable to answer for his jaw was broken in multiple places and he was sure that some of his teeth were absolutely not where they belonged.

A desperate thought suddenly entered Lokis beaten mind.

Why hadn't he thought of that earlier?

He had to talk to Thor, but how?!

Magic was the only way now.

Loki had to try very hard to blend out the excruciating pain and to concentrate on his ability to create a clone of himself. It took longer than usual and Thor was about to start hitting him again, but then he stopped midway.

All of a sudden a second Loki appeared out of nowhere in front of the two.

There was not a scratch on him, he stood there with a straight back and dressed in his armor. He didn't resemble the original in his current state at all.

"Thor, listen to me. I can't change what I did, but maybe I can find a way to undo it."

Thor turned his head to face the clone but didn't loosen his grip on the real ones throat. It could be some kind of trick after all.

"How?" Thor demanded to know.

"I'm going to find their souls and give them a mortal form once again."

"Even if you were capable of doing such a thing, how do I know that you're telling the truth? And why would you do it anyway. It was you who killed them, remember? So why would you want to bring them back to life again?"

Thor eyed the clone suspiciously.

He wanted to believe so badly that his brother could give him his friends back but after all the lies it was impossible for him to trust Loki entirely.

The real Loki started to moan and whimper and at the same time the clone began to flicker and seemed to fade away.

But before he disappeared completely he said: "Please! I beg you, let me try it. If I fail, I'll turn myself over to you. You'll be the one to punish me and I won't run, just like I didn't run now. That's the only promise I can give you. But let me at least try it."


	30. Chapter 30

After Thor had joined the battle, Thanos warriors soon fled filled with horror and despair.

The god of thunder had not been in the mood for being gentle.

He used all his anger and sorrow over the death of his friends and fought as if every single warrior was personal responsible for it.

Thanos had been frustrated when he discovered that his men fled back home through the portal like sheep in panic, no longer listening to his orders.

As soon as the Asgardians had seen their prince fighting alongside them, they felt immediately stronger and hope found its way back into their minds.

Soon Thanos had to draw back too, but before he stepped through the portal he'd addressed Odin one last time:

"This is not over! You hear me?! I will return and then you'll wish you'd yielded to me when you still had the chance.

And oh yes, tell your little snake-son that he's gonna pay for his latest failure. You probably never taught him how to clean up his own mess."

The portal closed behind the villain and a sudden silence fell upon Asgard.

The warriors started to help the wounded and carried the dead back to the city.

Those who were still alive reunited with their families and friends.

* * *

Thor went back to the throne room, to see if Loki had returned yet.

When he entered the great hall, he saw his brother standing next to a pillar, talking to someone the thunder god couldn't see.

Drawing nearer, aiming not to be seen by the trickster, Thor tried to eavesdrop.

"_You are a whiny useless little child! I'm gonna make sure that your plan will fail."_

"No!"

"_Oh, yes. You always wanted to kill them but you never had the guts to do so. That's why I did it. And you are not gonna bring them back from the dead. I won't allow it."_

"But I have to. I promised Thor."

Something about this conversation puzzled Thor.

Both voices seemed to belong to Loki, although one sounded aggressive, frustrated and bossy, while the other tried to hide fear and despair.

Using the pillars for cover, Thor tried to get closer, so he could see what was going on.

When he had a more or less clear view, he witnessed the rest of the conversation with his eyes and mouth wide open. Loki was alone.

"_Oh, yeah, I tried to block that out…you begged him like a little girl. Pathetic! But it's good for us, that you never keep your promises, isn't it?"_

"But this time it's different. This time I have to."

"_Yeah, yeah, bla bla… let's see how far you get. I'll be there to interfere. You'll never succeed, no matter what you do."_

"I hate you! Leave me alone!" The weaker voice shouted, close to tears now. "Because of you, Thor hates me and Thanos wants revenge, aren't you at least afraid of _him_?"

"_Stop whining, will you! And I am not afraid. Killing the Avengers was the only way to stop Thanos from destroying Asgard. By taking the one thing he could use to keep Thor away from the battlefield, I made sure that our world was saved. Without Thor we would have lost. And which kingdom would I rule one day, when Asgard is no more? So whatever Thanos has in mind for his revenge…let him come. I can take it."_

"But…I can't. Please! I can't take anymore torture."

"_You make me sick! Stop crying, for heaven's sake!"_

Thor frowned.

He'd never seen something like this.

Loki was crying and shivering but seconds later, when the commanding voice was talking, his whole body language changed.

His back straight, his head held high, his face showing nothing but disgust for his conversation partner.

Cruelty radiated from him.

Was Loki possessed?

Was his personality split?

Whichever it was, Thor had to be careful.

He decided to leave his hiding place and casually walked over to his brother, acting as if he'd seen and heard nothing that just had happened.

"Loki. Did you burry the bodies on the mountain?"

Loki turned around, startled but then he recognized his brother and nodded.

"Good. The ice will stop the decay until you've found a way to revive them. Hey, why did you face heal so well so fast? There are only a few scratches left."

"I knew a healing spell." Loki mumbled, looking down to the floor, like he was ashamed of something.

Thor wondered if the one voice that had been crying a moment ago, was now talking to him.

Yes, most likely, because from what he'd seen earlier, the other would never behave like this.

"Well good, that means you can start immediately with setting your plan in motion, right?"

Thor said and observed his brother closely.

"Yes…ehm…I don't have a plan yet. But I'll think of something. I made a promise to you and Rogers and I intend to keep it this time."

"Good, let me know if I can help you with anything. I'll go and find father. You however should hide. Who knows in what kind of mood he's in?"

There was a determined look on Lokis face, when he turned around and walked out of the palace.


	31. Chapter 31

Oh, this was a never ending story, wasn't it?

He would never stop caring for his brother.

Even if he'd kill a planet full of his friends, a part of him would always care.

The minute he'd seen Loki so tormented, so vulnerable, talking to this other cruel voice, the hatred inside of him had melted like snow in the sun.

It was a mystery to Thor.

Why did he forgive this sadistic liar time and time again?

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he felt guilty.

If he had been there when Odin had told Loki of his origin, maybe he could have prevented every bad and unnecessary thing that had happened to his brother since then.

Loki must have felt so torn and alone, when he found out that he was actually a frost giant.

And not just any frost giant, he was the son of Laufey king of Jotunheim.

So he was indeed a prince, born to rule a world one day.

It must have been a shock to find out that you belong to the monsters, your father told you stories about. Thor couldn't imagine the despair his brother must have felt.

Oh, how he wished he'd been there to comfort him, to tell him that everything was alright.

Thor sighed and sat down on the cold stone stairs.

He was tired, his body ached from the battle and his mind was worn out from thinking in circles.

He needed a rest.

Although he knew that he probably should join Loki on his quest.

Threats were lining up to follow his little brother and he needed to look out for him.

There was Thanos, who waited for the right moment to get his revenge and whatever Loki planned to do about reviving the Avengers, he himself seemed to be his greatest threat.

With the strange and alarming state his mind was in, there was just no way to foresee what would happen.

Thor sighed again.

This time it was heard.

"Thor, my son, what is troubling you? Aren't you glad that we won the battle?" Odin came into the throne room and was confused to find his heir sitting here alone and brooding.

"Of course, I'm glad. But this victory came with a high price."

"Ah, the death of your friends by the hand of your brother, a high price indeed."

"How did you know?" Thor asked, wondering if his father knew more about that matter, than he did.

"After the battle was over, I went to Heimdall and asked him, if he knew what Thanos meant when he spoke about Loki not being able to clean up his mess. My gatekeeper told me all about it. He decided to watch Lokis actions carefully, from the moment he stepped through that portal with you and your friends. Even while fighting, he observed him."

"But why?" Thor frowned.

"Loki is the only one who manages to deceive Heimdall, using portals to come and go whenever he pleases and as we've seen today, to show our enemies a way to Asgard. So it is understandable that Heimdall wants to keep an eye on him at all times." Odin explained and sat down next to his son on the stairs.

The gatekeeper saw everything? Thor thought and he asked his father, if he could tell him details about the whole affair.

Odin was very tired.

The fighting had been much more strenuous than he'd expected.

He didn't get any younger.

But he saw that it was very important to his son to know how his friends had died and so he started to describe it all.

The more Thor heard, the harder it got for him to stay calm.

Apparently Loki had cast a spell on the Avengers, so that they all ripped out their own throats with their bare hands.

Because a warrior who killed himself would end up in hel instead of Valhalla. So if Loki would fail to revive them, their souls would never find peace.

"Has he no conscience?!" Thor screamed out in desperation, but then closed his eyes and shook his head.

Unbelievable!

How could Loki be so cruel?

To deny a warrior his rightful place in Valhalla was a crime that had no equal.

"What about the strange conversation Loki had with himself in here? Did Heimdall tell you about that, too?"

Odin nodded.

"What does he think? Is Loki possessed?" Thor hoped that the answer would be a simple 'yes', but that was wishful thinking, wasn't it.

There was nothing simple when it came to his little brother.

"Well, that's hard to tell. He saw this other unscrupulous Loki for the first time, when he killed the Avengers. But then he vanished only to appear later in this room again. Each time Loki had been completely alone and no one seemed to have done anything to him. Except if magic had something to do with it and someone had cast an evil spell on Loki, there was no way for Heimdall to notice it."

When Thor asked him, what his own opinion was, Odin sighed and looked at him with unbelievable sadness in his eyes.

"Oh, Thor, I guess I am to blame for Lokis condition. All the things I've said and done… I told him who he really was. I tortured him with nightmares of his innermost fears. I was aware that he might lose his sanity through that treatment, but I did it anyway. And to top that all, he was tortured in the most brutal way by the Chitauri. The mind can only endure so much."

"You're not to blame, father. If it hadn't been for the Chitauri, he could have had a chance to recover."

"I set the things in motion, Thor. It all started when I told him that he was a Jotuns child."

"We all did things we shouldn't have done. I feel responsible as well. But he would have found out anyway, sooner or later."

"Yes, that is true." Odin nodded.

"So he's not possessed then? In your opinion, Loki simply lost his mind?"

"I think that the physical and mental pain had been too much to bear for him, so he created someone stronger, someone who _could_ cope."

It was exactly the answer Thor had feared, because if Loki had been possessed, an exorcist could have easily fixed it, but this…

He had to go.

He needed to find Loki and never let him out of his sight again.

This other cruel personality of him could not be allowed to come near his friends again, or they might be lost in hel for all eternity.


	32. Chapter 32

„Why did you heal my face?" Loki asked.

"_Do you like looking like a horse did just trample you down? It was hideous. You are a prince after all, start to behave like one!"_ The dark voice snarled at him.

"But I wanted the pain to last, I deserved it."

"_What? A moment ago, you told me that you couldn't bare anymore pain and torture."_

"This was a different kind of pain. It was justified."

"_Oh, for crying out loud! You are a piece of work." The dark one rolled his eyes and shook his head._

"Yeah, whatever. Now leave me alone."

Loki said, showing no emotions at all. Suddenly he was terribly tired and all he longed for was silence in his head, so he could think.

"_What?"_

"You heard me, leave me alone. I need to take care of some things."

"_Oh, you mean saving your little friends? Good luck with that."_

Laughter cut into his mind like sharp knives.

Loki pressed his hands on his forehead, fighting the dizziness that threatened to overwhelm him.

"Shut up now!"

"_Alright, alright, but only because I like watching you try in vain. I want you to get your hopes as high as possible, before I crush you and throw those humans back into the pit. It gonna be much more fun that way."_

"Shut up!"

Loki was startled by the sudden silence in his head.

After a few minutes it seemed almost unbearable.

He was really gone, at least for the time being.

But where did he go?

Actually, that didn't matter, as long as he could think again without someone always commenting on it.

He had to admit that he was afraid of this voice.

What was it and who created it?

Did he do that?

The voice told him that he was Loki, too, only a better version, a version without a conscience.

He'd promised him, that he would make them king one day and that he would always look out for him, but that included doing things that he might not approve of.

' It's simple', he'd said, 'I do what I want and I won't consider your feelings, so you better accept it. In the long run, you'll see that it's for the best that I'm in charge of your body now.'

He had still been in shock after seeing the lifeless bodies of Thors friends in those cages, when this dark voice came crawling out of the depths of his own mind and started to talk to him for the first time.

He could take over Lokis body whenever he wanted and that was damn frightening.

How could he get rid of him?

"_You can't."_ The voice's comment cut through the silence like thunder.

"What part of 'leave me alone', didn't you understand? Besides, I created you and therefore I _can_ get rid of you."

"_Hmm…who says that you're the one who created me, maybe it was the other way around."_

"No, no, that's not true." It sounded more like a question than a statement. "Why would you create someone like me? You consider me to be weak."

"_Good point. But it's no proof, is it? You don't know my plans and you can never foresee what I'll do next. If you were the one, who created me, wouldn't you be able to? I can shut you out and take over your body, whereas you have to ask me to leave. Doesn't that sound odd?"_

"Maybe I just lost my mind and you don't exist at all."

"_Uhhh…ouch."_ The dark one pretended as if those words had hurt him badly and then he laughed out loud. _"Who knows? It could even be true."_

"Oh, shut up."

Loki was confused, it was hard to focus.

His head hurt like hell.

"_I'll grant your request…again. But try to avoid thinking too much about me. It won't do you any good."_

The silence hit Loki again.

This last conversation had made him feel queasy.

Was he the figment?

No way!

Right?

Stop it! Loki thought.

He had to concentrate on finding the Avengers souls.

First, and he knew there was no way around that, he had to pay dear old Hela a visit and negotiate like he'd never done before. She's probably going to want something in exchange, if she was even willing to free the souls in the first place.

What could he possibly offer her?

Oh, screw that, he would make something up as he went along.

He still couldn't force his mind to think straight.

The pounding headache really started to get on his nerves.

But rest was not an option, Thor would strangle him with his bare hands if he'd caught him sleeping now.

Alright then, off to hel!

Loki was about to step through the portal he'd created seconds ago, when his brother landed right next to him.

Oh, how he envied Thor for Mjölnir.

The power of flying through the air like a bird was something he'd always dreamed of having. Perhaps he could figure out how to shape shift one day and then turn into a real bird.

He remembered reading something about that in an old book called 'Magic transformations'.

Lokis train of thought got stopped by Thors loud voice.

"Don't you dare go alone, I want to make sure that you don't mess up again."

That wasn't even worth an answer, Loki thought and rolled his eyes.

"After you", he said instead.

"Where does this portal go to?"

Thor asked suspiciously and Loki sighted.

"To hel, where your friends are currently residing."

"I guess, you can't just walk in there, find the Avengers and leave again, am I right? Tell me you have a plan, Loki."

"I will have a plan, once I'm there, trust me. It's gonna be easy. Now move."

"How can you be so sure?"

Loki moaned annoyed.

"There is no world without rules and politics. Hel is no exception. That's why I know that there is a possibility to save your friends. Will you step through that portal now?!"

Thor nodded and did what he was told.


	33. Chapter 33

„Ohhh… what brings you here, beautifully spoiled little Laufeyson?"

Helas voice resounded throughout the hall Loki and Thor had appeared in. It was so dark they couldn't make out a single thing, let alone determine how big the place was.

Suddenly the goddess materialized in front of them and the hall lit up in a green pulsating light.

They were both dazzled by her beauty and at the same time irritated by her intimidating mask that covered her face, the multiple green horns on her head and the green blazing eyes that seemed to read every elemental movement without ceasing.

She started to smile: "Mmhh…The Odinson is here, too? What's the occasion?"

"I'm here to negotiate. I need five particular souls back. There's been a mistake." Loki said, cutting right to the chase.

Hela laughed so loud the hall seemed to vibrate, but then she got serious again.

"A mistake? There are no mistakes in my realm. Every single soul that ended up here belongs to this place. But yet you have the guts to accuse me of having done a mistake, which is preposterous. Justify your accusation!"

"The souls ended up here because you thought that the warriors had killed themselves. But in truth I've killed them with magic. I've forced them to tear their own throats to pieces. And that means their rightful place is in Valhalla."

Loki explained, trying to ignore his headache and to stay calm.

The goddess remained silent for a while, seemingly lost in thoughts and then, with a click of her fingers the Avengers appeared right next to her.

"I suppose you are talking about them. So let me check, if you're telling the truth…for once in your life."

She turned around, took Rogers head into her hands and stared into the captains eyes. Green light was flowing from her eyes into his until his head seemed to glow, as if it was transparent.

After a few minutes she stopped, let go of Rogers and grabbed Tony instead.

She searched his head as well and did this to every Avengers until she was absolutely sure. Then she clicked her fingers again and the warriors from Midgard vanished into thin air.

"You tricked me, Loki. It was indeed you, who killed them. Why would you go through such trouble? Only to point out that I am, too, capable of making mistakes?"

Hela was obviously confused and tried to uncover the god of mischief's real intention by staring at him with her blazing green eyes. But she couldn't get inside of his head. He blocked her with ease.

As if her mental attack never happened he answered her question.

"No, that wasn't my goal. It was necessary to bring them here otherwise we wouldn't have won the last battle on Asgard. Call it a political move. But now I need them back."

"So that's your great plan? To tell her the truth?" Thor whispered into Lokis ear and received a low snarl as a reply and then: "Just let me handle it! I know what I'm doing."

Thor sighed, but unfortunately it didn't help him to relax. Not in the least.

He bit down on his lower lip and continued to observe his brother closely.

Which voice had the upper hand now?

It wasn't possible to tell them apart, when they weren't fighting with each other.

"OH, you need them back and just like that you expect me to give them to you? What an arrogant little fool you are!" Hela snapped.

"You have to revive them, they don't belong here?"

"The only thing I'm bound to do, is to send the souls to Valhalla, nothing else."

"What if I would give you something…something very valuable? Would you forget that you're supposed to do your duty?"

A venomous smile stole across Hela's face and she cocked her head.

"Finally, the trickster comes out to play. Although I doubt that you have something so valuable that could make me forget about five souls."

"Oh, trust me, I do. But maybe we should discuss that in a more private area, only you and me."

Hela laughed again when she saw Thors shocked expression.

"Alright, that can be arranged."

And before Thors eyes the two gods disappeared without a trace.

"Loki!"

He shouted, getting even more agitated now.

Damn, what if the other Loki would mess it all up?

What if it had been the dark one talking all along?

Something valuable?

Could Loki really possess something that Hela would take as a payment for five souls?

Oh, how he hated it to be the one left out!

The pitch black empty hall he was standing in started to mess with his imagination.

* * *

Suddenly, it couldn't have been more than five minutes, Loki and Hela appeared again and with them the green light returned.

Thor was grateful for that, because waiting alone in this darkness had not been too comfortable.

He could have sworn that someone or something had been staring at him and he'd heard breathing as loud and clear as if someone had stood behind him. But now in the dim green light, there was no one, except for Loki, Hela and himself.

"Poor Thor", Hela said, mocking him. "He looks so scared and lost. Don't you like it here?"

Loki laughed alongside her but it sounded wrong, like he had to force himself to laugh.

"Alright, you two had your fun, now stop it. I demand to know if you've reached a decision."

"Is he always so bossy?"Hela rolled her eyes and Loki nodded: "Not one day goes by."

"I'm glad he's not my brother then."

The goddess laughed again but when she saw that Thors hand that was holding Mjölnir was nervously twitching, she stopped immediately.

"Alright, alright, no reason to get angry, Odinson. You're precious friends are alive again. I put their souls back into their bodies. So if I were you, I'd go and make sure that they won't kill themselves again."

Thor couldn't believe his ears.

Free, just like that?

What had been the price?

And what about Lokis dark voice?

Didn't he promise to prevent him from freeing the Avengers?

Everything went too easy, too smooth.

"Alright, let's go, brother", Loki said and opened up a new portal. "This will bring us to your friends in no time."

"Wait a minute. What was the price for the souls? What did you give Hela in return?"

The goddess' laughter behind his back did not make him feel better.

"Farewell, you two. See you soon!"

What? What did she mean by that?

"Loki! Answer me!"

"Could we go now?! Please, brother. We need to leave this place…now!"

The pleading and the sudden sadness in the tricksters voice made him feel queasy. And as he stepped through the portal, he wondered what horrible trade the two of them had made.


	34. Chapter 34

Where did all the snow come from?

Where the hell was he?

He couldn't remember a thing after Thanos had given Loki the order to kill him and his friends.

And now snow?!

Damn, he couldn't feel his fingers, let alone his feet!

Had there been an avalanche, or why was he buried underneath that heavy wet stuff?

Although incapable of feeling anything in his hands, Tony started to push upwards, hoping he might break through the top and be able to orientate himself.

It was easier than he thought it would be.

Apparently, the one who'd buried him either hadn't planned on keeping him in this icy grave for long, or he'd simply done a sloppy job.

Whatever the case was, Tony was grateful for it.

Soon he was able to breathe fresh unfiltered air again and discovered that he wasn't alone.

On his right side, he saw Banner already standing upright, patting the snow off his clothes.

Natasha helped Barton to crawl out of his own snowy grave.

"Hey! Who's gonna help me?"

Tony yelled at them, but was already smiling, when he saw them jump at the sudden loud noise.

They seemed to be on the top of a mountain, all snow, stone, freezing cold air and silence. So the sound of his voice got amplified by the lack of noise and the imposing rock wall next to them.

Banner trudged over to the still smiling billionaire, reached out for his hand and pulled him out of the snow. "Happy now?"

"Yes, thank you. But there is something bothering me. What the hell are we doing on a mountain? How did we get up here? Has anyone a clue?"

Meanwhile Romanoff had succeeded to free Barton and both joined the two scientists now to solve the mystery why they had been buried alive on a mountain in the middle of nowhere.

But no one could recall anything.

They all had seen Thanos giving Loki the order to kill them and then the god of mischief had asked for the permission to torture them first.

"Did you see Loki collapse, too?" Natasha Romanoff asked.

"Yeah, you're right. I remember now. It looked like he fainted." Barton answered deliberately.

And Banner added: "But a few minutes later, he got up again and slowly walked to Rogers cage. And….no…I'm sorry. That's all I remember."

Everyone had the same experience.

The mystery of their awakening on this mountain wasn't one to solve the fast way.

Suddenly Tony paused and looked at his friends, concern visible in his eyes.

"Hey, where is Rogers by the way? Anyone saw him?"

The Avengers immediately started to look for a sign that would indicate the whereabouts of Steve Rogers.

It took a while but then Natasha finally found the place where the captain had been buried. She called out to the others for help and they started to dig as fast as they could.

"Why didn't he wake up like the rest of us? Why isn't he opening his eyes? Is he dead?" Barton couched what they all were thinking.

In the blink of an eye, Thor and Loki arrived on the mountain where the god of mischief claimed to have buried the Avengers bodies.

The cold wind bit into their skin and the sunlight on the white snow blinded them for a few seconds. Coming out of the heat and darkness of hel, it was quite a shock.

There was no time to lose, Thor thought.

"Where did you burry them, Loki?"

His brother pointed to the right and said: "Over there. You don't mind if I wait here? They won't be overjoyed to see me."

"Fine, but don't go anywhere. We need you to bring us back to the palace with one of your portals. It would be suicide to climb down this mountain." Thor looked at his brother with scrutiny.

He saw him nod, but there was no guarantee that he would still be here, when Thor returned, was there?

Was the dark voice still present?

Was it talking to him right now?

Oh, how he hated the uncertainty.

The Thunder god started to walk into the direction Loki had pointed out and soon he could make out shapes in the distance.

It had to be them!

Although the snow slowed him down he tried to walk as fast as he could.

They were occupied with digging up someone or something.

As he came closer it got obvious that they were about to pull Rogers out of the snow.

But the captain seemed alarmingly motionless.

"Friends, I'm glad I found you, are you alright?"

Thor shouted as he approached them.

He received a shocked expression from all of them but the minute they realized who this tall man was, they were happy to see him.

"Yeah, I'm not sure how to answer that. What happened to us?" Tony asked but Romanoff cut him off.

"That can wait, Tony. We need to find out what's wrong with Rogers. Thor, do you know why he's not awake like the rest of us?"

Thor frowned and knelt down next to the captain and took a closer look.

Rogers was lying in the snow on his back, still breathing but not responding to anything.

"He's been like this since we've pulled him out of this weird grave." Banner explained.

"Maybe he just needs more time to wake up than we did." Was Bartons assumption.

"Alright, come on. We go back to the palace. I'll carry Rogers. We'll figure it out." Thor stood up and lifted the captain up.

Tony frowned and said in a typical tone that could only be described as demanding annoyance: "So we're still in Asgard then? You know, an explanation would be cool now."

And so Thor decided to fill them in on what had happened while they were walking back to the place where Loki should be waiting for them.

* * *

"_Hmmm…I could push them off this ridge here, when they return, or should I just disappear and with that, force them to walk back to the palace? They won't even survive half an hour."_

"Neither of it."

"_Oh?! Did you grow a spine after all?"_

"Just leave them alone. You did enough damage." Loki said with a weak voice. He was totally exhausted and his knees were wobbly. He had to sit down, just for a few minutes. He didn't care that the cold snow made him shiver almost immediately.

"_Damage? I don't get it. The five souls are free, isn't that what you wanted?"_

"Oh, you know what I mean, stop pretending."

"_I do not consider this as damage. I saved your sorry ass. You were about to dig your own grave."_

"Well…you should've let me."

"_Great! Not only do I share this body with a whining, self-loathing idiot, no, he has to be suicidal as well. What an improvement! Do you really think I would just stand there and watch, while you give our soul to Hela, so she can play with it? I mean….honestly, what were you thinking?"_

"But why?" Loki sobbed. He was laying in the snow now, his knees pressed to the chest, his arms wrapped around his head.

Why was this happening?

Why couldn't he just turn back the time and undo this horrible thing?

He wanted to freeze to death right now, to starve, to mummify, to die…something, anything.

He couldn't live like this.

"_Oh, for crying out loud, stop sobbing like a baby and get your ass out of the snow. I'm cold! Since when do you have a conscience anyway?"_

"I always had one!" Loki cried out and decided not to get up. He couldn't care less if the other was cold or not.

"_Please!" The dark voice snapped: "You never pondered over the people you killed. You never had sleepless nights because of the lies you've told, so why the sudden empathy?"_

"Because he cares about me!"

"_Cute little innocent fool! You really believe that, do you? How many times did you lie to get someone's attention or even affection? Did it ever occur to you that he could be doing the same?"_

"He's not like that." Loki protested but his voice wavered and he couldn't hide that the seeds of doubt, planted by the dark voice, had found a place to grow.

"_Is he?"_

"Stop it, shut up, I hate you! Leave me alone. Why can't it all be like it was before?! I don't want you here!"

"_You know what…I've had enough. If you don't stop crying and sobbing like a little girl, I take over your body and kill the Avengers the instant I see them approaching me. And then the 'damage' as you call it, would have been for nothing. And damn you! Get your ass out of the snow already! I'm freezing. I'm about to lose my patience!"_

Loki had no choice and so he slowly got up and wiped the tears away.

He felt even weaker than before and his head was pounding.

Although he tried to make sense of it all, tried to identify the truth, it was impossible for him to concentrate.

Inside his mind chaos was ruling.

Lies, lies, lies!

Had all the nice words and the affection been a con?

Did Thor despise him?

"_Yes, deep down he does", was the dark voice whispering. _

In the distance he could see his brother and the Avengers slowly approaching him.


	35. Chapter 35

„There he is", Barton said, „I just wanna say that I really have to fight the urge to kill him right now. So, don't let me alone with him."

"I feel the same way", Banner said trough clenched teeth.

"Yes, guys, I think we all do, but you heard Thor. We need to be careful. Who knows what he traded our souls for and what his dark voice inside of him is up to? So, I guess it would be wise to hide our anger. Don't you agree?"

They nodded. Natasha was right. And besides, they all had no powers on Asgard and so it was unwise to start a fight with Loki at the moment anyway.

"Uh…He doesn't look so good. Is he sick or something?"

The Avengers were now just a few steps away from the trickster and not just Tony had noticed the terrible state the god was in.

Loki couldn't hide that he was shivering, his eyes were red and swollen and his lips blue from the cold. He lowered his head when they reached him.

He couldn't look them in the eyes.

The fear of losing control over his body was driving him mad.

Concentrate on breathing, he told himself, just breath normally. Relax.

His efforts to calm himself were crippled in an instant, when Thor put a hand on his shoulder.

Loki winced and was definitely close to hyperventilating now.

Inside his head the dark voice was growling.

_You're embarrassing! Is that how a future king behaves? _

"No", Loki whispered, subdued.

Thor heard his brother mumbling something but couldn't understand it.

So he asked: "Loki? Are you alright? We need that portal now. We have to go back to the palace, Rogers is not well."

Rogers?

Loki stole a glance at the Avengers in front of him and saw that Thor was carrying Rogers.

The others seemed to be fine.

What went wrong?

Hela had promised him, that all five souls would find their bodies without a problem.

"Is he still dead?" Loki asked with such a weakly voice, that he wasn't sure if anyone had heard him at all.

"No, he's alive, but he's in some kind of sleep. He won't wake up, which is why we have to go now."

Thor pressed him to hurry.

He wanted to be back in the safety of the palace, but why?

Only because Rogers had not yet woken up?

What made him so nervous?

It was almost as if he knew.

But how could he?

There is no way Thor knew about the dark voice inside Loki, the one that could decide to take over his body at any time and wreak havoc.

The Avengers life's dangled on a string, did Thor know that?

_Of course he knows…He practically tries to force you with his hammer to open up that stupid portal. _

"But how would Thor know about you?" Damn! He said that out loud, didn't he?

"Loki! Don't listen to him. I need you to focus! Open up the portal, now!"

Thor wasn't sure that it had been the right decision to admit that he knew about the existence of the dark voice, in this very moment. But maybe the shock would help, or make it all worse. It was a fifty percent chance.

Loki looked at him, puzzled and confused. "How…?"

"I'll tell you all about it, when we are back at the palace. So, please open the portal now."

Hoping that his brother wouldn't lose the fight with the dark one inside him, Thor tried to keep calm. It was hard, though. He knew that the other Loki's plan had been to never ever free the Avengers again. So the fact that his friends had been alive for quite a while now, made him feel on edge. The safety of the palace, where Odin waited for them, was within reach.

"Why are you so eager to go home? Why are you in such a hurry?" Loki asked suspiciously. "Don't you trust me?"

"I trust you, brother! And we need to hurry, because Rogers is not well. Don't you remember the promise you gave him?" To mention Lokis promise was the Thundergods last hope. It had to work.

The promise! Of course Loki remembered. He'd told him that he would make it all better.

He had to keep his promise.

And without hesitation he created the portal that would bring them all back to the palace.

When they stepped through it, Thor was smiling at him, but underneath that smile Loki could see that his brother was still very nervous and concerned.

It mirrored his own feelings and soon he knew at least why he felt like that.

The dark voice hadn't said a thing or interfered when he'd opened the portal.

What was it up to?


	36. Chapter 36

They arrived in the middle of the throne room, save and sound.

Nothing unexpected had happened.

Thor was relieved, but that didn't mean that he imagined his friends were safe now.

Danger was still present but for the moment he could breathe again.

Odin stood in front of them and welcomed the Avengers with open arms.

Loki stepped back and tried to hide behind the broad shoulders of his brother from the eyes of the old man and he whispered: "Give me Rogers, I'll take him to my room and figure out what's wrong with him."

When he saw Thor's frown, he even begged him to do it. "I can't face Odin right now, please brother."

That seemed to be the truth.

Thor saw the pure desperation in the tricksters' eyes and decided to let him have it his way for now.

There was time enough for him to talk to Odin.

Whereas Rogers problem was much more pressing. So he handed the still sleeping captain over to Loki and both of them disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Thor, my son, I see you've succeeded. You're friends are alive again." Odin said as he hugged his son briefly.

Thor began to explain to his father that it had not been his success. Loki had been the one to persuade Hela to free the souls. But no one knew what he'd given her in return.

And the dark voice hadn't delivered on his promise to cast the Avengers back into hel.

So unfortunately, it wasn't over yet.

Tony added that it was probably best for them to return to earth as soon as possible.

Loki had the edge over them in Asgard.

With no powers at all, they were like sitting ducks.

Although Banner knew that it would be foolish to stay here, he wished that he wouldn't have to return to earth all the same. A life without the Hulk! It was all he ever wanted, since the first time he turned into the green monster. But to stay meant to be vulnerable, and he had absolutely no desire to end up in hel again, or worse. "Okay then, let's head back. Er…where's Rogers?"

"Loki took him to his room. He tries to figure out why he hasn't woken up yet." Thor answered the question and was met with disapproval.

"Unbelievable! You left the captain alone with the crazy guy? You were the one who said he's not to be trusted." Tony rolled his eyes.

* * *

Loki had laid Rogers down on his own bed.

There was still no sign that he would make an attempt to wake up soon.

It seemed that he was dreaming though, because his eyelids were fluttering and his breathing was unsteady.

Maybe, Loki thought, he could enter the captains dream and with that find out why he refused to wake up like the others did. It was worth a try.

Loki placed his hand on the Avengers forehead, closed his own eyes and concentrated.

Dense fog started to slowly lift, a picture formed itself inside Lokis mind.

He saw a landscape, miles and miles of snow and ice.

Rogers was still buried in the snow, only his head could be seen.

The god knelt down next to him and said: "Steve, wake up."

Although Rogers opened his eyes, his answer was the opposite of his action: "I can't."

"But why?" Loki asked.

"I don't want to feel like I fell out of time again. If I wake up, all my friends will be dead. I know it."

Loki sighed.

So that was the reason.

He was relieved that it hadn't been something Hela or his dark voice had done.

"Steve, listen to me. This is your dream. I came here to tell you that everything is fine. I promised you that I would make it all better again. And I did. Your friends are not dead. They are here, waiting for you to wake up. So do it now."

And with those words, Loki left Rogers dream and found himself still standing next to the bed in front of the sleeping captain. But he wasn't alone anymore.

"What did you do to him?! Tell us immediately!" Tony demanded and Barton, Romanoff and Banner eyed him suspiciously. Behind them Thor and Odin were guarding the door.

"What's that all about? Thor, I told you that I would try to wake Rogers up. That's all I did." Loki defended himself.

Right on cue, the captain opened up his eyes and yawned.

"What's going on? What happened? Did I miss something? Man, don't tell me I slept for another 70 years!" The exasperation disappeared from his face when everyone shook their heads.

"See, I didn't do anything to him. He's fine. So I suggest you all go back to Midgard now."

"I'm usually not on a level with you, Loki, but I have to say, I like your suggestion. I could use a decent drink. There is an exquisite bottle of Whisky waiting for me." Tony smirked. "Anyone care to join me?"

"I'll join you under one condition: You have to fill me in on what happened while I was sleeping. I guess Asgard won the war?" Rogers asked and was glad to see Thor nod in response.

That's all he wanted to know for now. All of his friends seemed to be fine, too.

Only the look on Lokis face was hard to decipher.

Was he afraid of something, was he nervous?

Ah, it was probably just because of Odins presence. That man made him nervous as well.

Rogers got up from the bed and joined his friends. Banner patted him on the back. "It's good to have you back, Steve."

Loki agreed to open up a portal again, that would bring them back to earth.

Thor wanted to go with them, but only to make sure that everyone got home safe and sound.

He asked Loki, if he could keep the portal open for about five minutes, so that he could say goodbye to his friends and return again. Loki had no problem with that and seconds later, Thor stood on the Stark Tower, right next to his friends.

"I'll go back and try to find out what this other Loki is up to. He didn't even attempt to throw you back into hel. He must've changed his mind, but why? Anyway, it is much wiser for you to remain on Midgard. If Loki attacks you here, you'll be able to defend yourselves. I must go now, but I'll come back if there is anything you should know."

They said goodbye and the portal closed right after Thor had stepped through it again.

"Other Loki?Hel? Guys, you really have to tell me how long I slept. I mean seriously...what happened?" Banner, Barton, Romanoff and Tony looked at each other and laughed. The desperate and confused look on Rogers face was priceless.

"Don't worry, we'll fill you in" Natasha said.

They were all happy to be back on earth in one piece and powerful again. Although in the back of their heads, they couldn't stop wondering why the dark voice inside Loki hadn't interfered and even let them return to earth without a fight.

Maybe Thor would find the answer.


	37. Chapter 37

It was a nice, warm evening.

The sun was about to set and the brothers were sitting on a bench on one of the many impressive balconies of the palace.

Three days had gone by since the Avengers had returned to Midgard.

Thor and Odin had tried to find out what Loki gave Hela in return for the souls, but they had no success.

Not even Heimdall was able to help.

Odin finally talked to Loki about all the things that had happened in the past days.

Thor had been standing outside the door and was able to hear every single word.

Surprisingly they hadn't been fighting.

Odin apologized and even Loki said that he was sorry for showing Thanos and his army the way to Asgard.

The god of mischief seemed so humble and somehow he really meant what he said.

There hadn't been a hint of deceit, neither in his voice nor in his words.

And in the past days, Loki had avoided everyone.

He stayed in his room or went outside and wandered around without any obvious destination.

No one had seen him talking to the dark voice again.

But at night, Thor was sure that he sometimes heard them arguing about something.

Once he went over to Lokis bedroom and entered without knocking.

His brother had been standing in the middle of the room, red eyes, tears streaming down his face.

He was banging his head against a pillar in front of him but stopped when he became aware of Thor standing in the doorway.

"Go back to sleep, Thor", was the only thing he said.

Seeing so much weariness in those tear filled eyes, Thor decided to ask questions later and went back to his own bedroom.

But now the time had come.

Thor got the feeling that Loki was willing to talk.

Maybe not about every detail, but that didn't matter.

His brother seemed to carry so much weight on his shoulders lately that even a bit of talking might do good.

Thor had met him wandering around in a corridor and had asked if he'd liked to join him on the balcony to enjoy the last bit of sunlight.

His brother had simply nodded.

"I know that you have some kind of dark voice inside you. And you know that I know, so let's talk about it." Thor thought that it might be best if he cut right to the chase.

"No small talk then? Good. But what is there to talk about. You already know." Loki looked down at his hands to avoid eye contact.

"Why is it there? Where does it come from?" Thor wanted to know.

"I have no clue. I woke up after I've killed the Avengers and there it was. I have no memories of killing them, so it must have been him."

"Him? Who is he? Does someone possess you? Is it a demon, a ghost?" Maybe Odin was wrong and Loki wasn't insane after all. But as fast as the hope had risen, it got shattered again.

"It's me, Thor. I don't even know if he is the one who's new or if I am. All I know for sure is that he is much more powerful than I am. He can take over my body whenever he likes and he does not stop to get what he wants."

Thor frowned: "Why the sudden candor? He lets you talk to me about him like that?"

Loki smiled. "He's laughing at you right now. He is always there, listening, commenting about everything. I can't get rid of him. But he gives me a kind of freedom, though. Like a dog on a leash. As long as it is not jeopardizing his plans, I can do and say what I want."

"Plans, what kind of plans?" Thor asked.

"See, that's what I can't tell you."

"I understand. Can you at least tell me what you did to get the souls back?" It was worth a try, Thor thought.

"I planned on giving her my soul, but then the other Loki took over and gave her something else instead." The trickster pressed one hand at his temple and growled: "Shut up! I know I can't tell him!"

And then he mumbled an apology. "I'm sorry, Thor. But he starts screaming at me, if I go there and it hurts like hell. So stop interrogating me, please….Can I ask you something instead?"

Thor nodded.

"Do you despise me? I mean…deep down? Did you lie to me when you said that you would always love me, that I would always be your brother, no matter what happens?"

"Oh, Loki. You know that I can't lie. I told you the truth. I don't despise you. I mean, come on, you killed my friends and sent them to hel and I'm still sitting here with you, watching the sun go down. Isn't that proof enough? You will always be my brother and whatever you do…nothing can break our bond." Thor said and smiled, but he stopped immediately when he saw that the other god was crying.

"What's wrong, Loki?"

"Oh, Thor…I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…what I promised Hela, I didn't mean to, but now I have to…aaarrrghhhh….SHUT UP! I know, I KNOW!..." Loki screamed out in agony and pressed both hands against his head. But then the pain subsided, leaving him sobbing.

Thor felt stranded, there was nothing he could do to help his brother. He wished he could just rip this voice out of Lokis head and destroy it once and for all. He took him into his arms instead and told him that it was okay, that he didn't have to tell him what he promised Hela.

"But…If you knew, Thor…you would hate me, you wouldn't call me your brother anymore." Loki sobbed.

"Shhh….calm down, I told you that nothing can break our bond. Do not put it into question again! You hear me?" Thor wondered what horrible thing his brother had promised Hela.

Suddenly, Loki kissed him on the lips, got up and walked back to his room as fast as he could.

He left a confused Thor behind. What did just happen?

That kiss had made him very sad but he couldn't figure out why.

But as he walked back to his own room it suddenly dawned on him.

It had been a farewell kiss.


	38. Chapter 38

„_Today's the day! Are you ready?"_ Said the dark Loki cheerful. He had waited for this day to come almost a week now and couldn't hide his good mood any longer. Everything went according to plan. _"You almost blew it yesterday, when you talked to Thor."_

"Yes, stop mentioning it. You screamed at me for an hour when I was back in my room. Don't you think that's enough?"

Loki was tired and devastated. It would happen today and he hadn't been able to come up with a plan so far. He had to prevent the whole thing, but it was impossible to think. The dark voice was either screaming at him for being stupid, or going on and on about how great it's going to be when all went down as planned. Loki yawned.

"_Don't you dare fall asleep."_

"It's entirely your fault. You kept me up all night."

"_Oh, boohoo…pull yourself together."_

"You know…I have my doubts that you're going to do it. You said that you would toss the Avengers back into hel the minute they're out. But nothing happened. You even let them go back to Midgard. Does that mean you're the kind of guy that talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk?"

He had to admit that provocation wasn't the best way to fight him but he was tired and couldn't think of anything else to do. Strangely there was no fit or rage as he'd expected.

Instead the dark one explained that it undoubtedly had been his goal all along, but when he'd heard what Hela wanted from him, he'd no longer felt the desire to kill the Avengers again. It seemed pointless and no fun at all. However watching Loki avoiding sleep, trying to keep control at all times, so that Thor's friends wouldn't be killed again had been entertaining.

"_And your exhaustion will come in handy today. You are even weaker than the day you had to kill the Avengers but couldn't. You hadn't a shred of strength left to fight me, so I took your body over with ease. And that's how it's gonna be today, too. You'll be tied to the front row seat, while I draw the curtain and start the play. You won't be able to lift a finger, condemned to watch your loved ones die."_

"You are a monster!"

"_Careful what you say. I am you. And besides we already know that we are a monster. Don't we?" _The dark one grinned but seconds later he got serious again, when he heard loud cheering from outside.

"_So it begins. He's back. Pick up the twig! Let's go."_

"NO, I am not gonna do it!"

The dark Loki rolled his eyes and shook his head. _"Alright, if you want to be a bystander even though the play hasn't even started yet…. You asked for it."_

The throbbing pain inside Lokis head increased. He cried out and seconds later he fell unconscious to the ground.

* * *

The sun had only just shown its golden light on the horizon, the promise of a wonderful day. All of Asgard stood in front of the palace, welcoming the most beautiful god in the entire realm. Everyone was smiling, cheering and throwing flower petals into the air. Odin welcomed the young god with a hug and so did Thor and his mother. Loki walked up to the group he'd once called his family.

"Hey, Loki, see who is back!" Thor said with a broad smile on his face.

The dark Loki smiled back and nodded.

He turned to face the newcomer, hugged him too and whispered into his ear: _"I welcome you, Balder. But I'm afraid, you have to leave again. Farewell."_ And with those words, he drew out the twig he'd been hiding under his clothes and pushed it deep into Balders heart.

First there was a sudden silence. Everyone was staring in shock at Loki and the dead Balder on the ground.

Then the women started to wail and the men demanded the immediate death of the trickster.

A guard shackled the murderer and gave the key to Odin.

The Allfather tried to calm the Asgardians in vain. They all knew that with Balders' death, Ragnarök had begun. There was nothing they could do now. The downfall of the gods was near. Panic, fear and anger could be seen in the eyes of the people. A group of young men tried to make their way through the crowd to avenge Balder.

Thor saw them approach and pushed Loki ungentle towards the entrance of the palace. Once inside, he closed the door as fast as he could and took his brother to his room.

"Why Loki!? Tell me, why!?" Thor was still in shock. Balder was dead, killed by Loki. It couldn't be true!?

"_Oh, my dear brother, you don't know why?"_ the dark voice laughed_: "That is what I promised Hela. She gave me the souls of your precious friends back and in return I had to start Ragnarök the moment I would see Balder. May he rest in peace."_

The second Loki had started to talk Thor knew that this wasn't his brother anymore. This was the dark voice. "Where is Loki? What have you done to him?"

"_Oh, Thor, face it…Loki and I, we are the same person. He's inside of my head, condemned to watch what I do. He's sobbing like a little girl, because he failed to protect you."_

"Me? Why me? I'm not the one who's dead."

The dark one laughed again_. "But you will be, sooner than the gods had planned it. Ragnarök has started much too early and now your death is near. And to top it all, I made a second promise to Hela. You're soul will never see the light of Valhalla, it'll go straight to hel. Oh, how he's crying, your little Loki, it's almost moving. All the love he has for you…he will never be able to show you, because from now on, I am in charge of this body and I'll never give it back to him."_

"But Ragnarök means your death too. Do you want to die so desperately?"

"_No, I won't be gone for long. I made sure that Hela revives me, when I'm dead. I will come back and when that time has come, I will be king of the new Asgard."_

"You're delusional! Let me talk to the real Loki!" Thor growled.

"_I AM the real Loki now! That whining excuse for a god will never see the light of day again. He's too weak to fight me. I'll burry him deep down in my mind, so that his whimpering won't bother me anymore." _

All of a sudden, the door to Lokis room flew open and Odin stood there, flanked by two guards. With a voice as loud as thunder, the Allfather said: "I hand out the just punishment to Loki, the god of mischief. From this day on, he will be bound on the top of a rock and on this rock, there will be a snake. The snakes venom will periodically drop onto the tricksters face. The pain he'll experience will cause never ending convulsions. Loki has never to be released again."

Thor watched how the guards took his brother away from him and later, he heard the crowd outside cheer, when the chains that held Loki down got attached to the solid rock and the only thing Thor did, was sitting down on the bed.

* * *

The days went by and Thor still hadn't left his brothers bed. Loki was in agony. He was screaming day and night, he barely stopped to catch his breath.

But the god of thunder was paralyzed. It seemed like the recent events, the knowledge that his brother loved him dearly, but that this one side of him was gone now…that he was never to be released again from that rock…that the end of all the gods was near…all that was just too much to take.

Thor buried his face into Lokis pillow. It was still sweet with his brothers' familiar scent.

And for the first time in years, Thor cried.

* * *

**_THE END!_**

* * *

**_I hope you liked the story. Please review! And thanks a lot for all the kind reviews and messages so far! ;)  
_**


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